
jfc»^^iOJl 



Eating for Strength: 



A BOOK COMPRISING: 



1.— THE SCIENCE OF EATING. 

2.— RECEIPTS FOR WHOLESOME COOKERY. 

3.— RECEIPTS FOR WHOLESOME DRINKS. 

4.— ANSWERS TO EVER RECURRING QUESTIONS. 






■^ ,> 



MrLr HOLBEOOK, M.D., 

Editor of the " EercUd of Health,"' *' Pa?'tttrUion, Without Pain," Etc. 



AIDED BY 



NUMEROUS COMPETENT ASSISTANTS. 



NEW YORK: 
'WOOD & HOLBROOK, 

13 & 15 Laight Street. 
1875. 






A^: 



/ 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1874, by 

M. L. HOLBROOK:, M.D., 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. 0. 



Lanqe, Littlk & Co., 

PBINTERS, ELECTR0TYPEE3 AND STEREOTYPHRB, 

108 TO \\\ WoosTBH Street, N. Y. 



PEEFAOE. 



The Autlior and Editor of this little work sends it on its mission 
witli tlie earnest hope that in some degree it may prove useful and 
acceptable. He would like to acknowledge his obligations to those 
who have aided him in his labors in the department of Recipes, by 
a mention of their names, but those to whom he is most indebted 
do not desire thus to be brought before the public. He may say this, 
however, that they are one and all practical experimenters and 
deeply interested in the subject of preparing wholesome and pal- 
atable food for our tables. Not one of all the number is a mere 
theorizer, but could, if need be, themselves cook a most delicious and 
healthful meal. 

He also begs to acknowledge his indebtedness to several Health 
Cookery Books, both English and American. 

Many of the best Recipes, however, are those which have oeen 
tried in our own kitchen, where they have stood the test of almost 
constant use for years. 

It will be observed that no Recipes are given for cooking meat or 
fancy dishes, but our apology for this is, that there is no necessity for 
doing so. Such Recipes are found in abundance in nearly every 
cookery book, and this is not intended so much to supplant these 
books as to supplement them. 



4 PREFACE. 

It is suggested that in tlie use of Kecipes, a reasonable amount of 
brains be mixed with them. The best will prove failures in careless 
hands. Food, to be well cooked, must be under the eye of a thought- 
ful person. It wiU not cook itself. It must be magnetized, so to 
speak, by a living force, and Recipes must often be somewhat varied 
to suit individual tastes and circumstances. The editor also suggests, 
that those who read this book experiment and invent new methods of 
their own. He will gladly print the results in the Herald of Health. 

As to the other departments, it is hoped that they will furnish 
numerous and acceptable hints for correct eating and drinking. 
Should they not, the Author's hopes will not be realized. 

M. L. H. 

New Yobk, October 1, 1874. 



OONTEISTTS. 



PART I. 

PAGE. 

Preface 3 

CHAPTER I. Functions of Food 7 

II. Classification of Aliments 10 

III. Tlie Amyloids 14 

IV. Mineral Water 20 

V. Values of Food 25 

VI. Source of Muscular Strength 28 

VII. Daily Wants of the Body 33 

VIII, Digestion 38 



PART 11. 

CHAPTER I. General Directions 43 

II, Choice Treatment of Foods 45 

RECIPES— 

Soups 47 

Porridges, Including Mushes 50 

Remarks, Rules and Recipes for Making Good Bread 51 

To Cook Eggs , . 63 

Preparations of Cheese Sandwiches 65 

Cooking Vegetables 66 

Pies and Pie Pastry 72 

Custards 77 

Puddings , 79 

Cakes 83 

Moulded Farinacea 84 

Miscellaneous Dishes 85 



6 CONTENTS. 

PART III. 

PAGE 

Liquid Foods 99 

Simple Beverages from Fruits 101 

Lemonades 102 

Brinks from Various Substances 103 

Ices 106 

Milk 107 

Tea 113 

Cocoa 116 

Chocolate 116 

Methods of Preparing Tea, Coffee, Cocoa, etc. 117 



PART IV. 

Practical Dietetics, and Answers to Ever-recurring Questions 131 

Index 153 



CHAPTER I. 

FUNCTIONS OF FOOD. 

WHY do we eat at all ? Why do all animals on the 
globe, from the simplest worm to the highest, 
most civilized man, depend for life on food and drink ? 
Why IS a child hungry, and if deprived of food for an hour 
beyond the allotted time, ravenous for something to eat? 
Why does a hard-working man enjoy his food so well, and 
want so much of it ? Why do great men and powerful 
thinkers need to eat so abundantly ? It does seem as if a 
large part of the work of the world is to supply food for the 
people. Why so many millions of acres of land devoted 
to agriculture and horticulture ? Why so many more farm- 
ers producing food than people of any or all other occupations ? 
Simply because food is so important, and its functions in the 
body are so necessary to life and health. What then is the 
great office that food performs for us ? Let us see. Food per- 
forms these functions : 

1. It furnishes material with which to construct the body. 
To the child this is very necessary. It would forever remain 
a babe in stature, if this were not so. The food it imbibes from 
its mother's breast increases the child's bulk; and if properly 
fed till maturity, a large, powerful body is the result. Farm- 
ers increase or diminish the size of their domestic animals, 
within a certain limit, by increasing or diminishing the 
amount of food supplied to them. The size, Avithin con- 
stitutional limits, to which a child may attain is, to a great 
extent, dependent on the supply of wholesome food it can 
digest. Abundance of food, coupled with plenty of air, 



8 FUKCTIOKS OF FOOD. 

exercise and sleep, insures a far greater size and development 
than when the food is scanty. Farmers sometimes, by feed- 
ing, produce enormous development of the bodies of oxen^ 
sheep, and other animals. This abnormal development, how 
ever, is not desirable in human beings, and should not be 
sought for; but a normal development is desirable, and is 
the legitimate aim of every parent for his child, and person 
for himself. 

2. Still another function of food is to supply the waste 
that goes on in the body from its daily wear and tear. This 
varies greatly with different persons, and with the amount 
of work done. Great workers wear out and use up every 
day several pounds of the blood and tissues of the body. 
New food is demanded to take its place, to make good this 
loss. Those who work but little require less food. A month 
of sickness sometimes wastes away a third of the weight of 
the body. The patient becomes thin, emaciated and bony. 
But a hearty appetite and plenty to eat soon restore it to 
its full size. There are some men of powerful frames who, 
if they do a hard day's work, waste many pounds of their 
avoirdupois, and must eat as much to make it up. Small 
workers, and lazy, idle people eat less ; and there are a few, 
mainly corseted and inactive young women, and foppish, idle 
young men, who waste very little of the tissue of the body 
by effort, and consequently eat but little. It is, then, no bad 
sign to see healthy people eat heartily — they must do it to 
work and live. 

3. Still another function of food is to maintain animal 
heat. So important a function is this, that it has been com- 
puted that four-fifths of the food of the body is used to 
maintain its temperature of nearly one hundred degrees. If 
any one would appreciate the heat-producing power of his 
food, let him in cold weather go without eating for a day 
and still continue exposing himself to the weather, and he 
will learn that a good meal will do more to warm his body 



FUNCTIONS OF FOOD. 9 

than clothing or fire. It furnishes the fuel which, consumed 
or burnt in the body, maintains a comfortable temperature. 

4 The last and most wonderful property of food is to fur- 
nish to the body strength. Strength comes in no other way. 
When plants grow they store up the energy of the sunshine, 
and when we consume these plants, that energy is transferred 
to our bodies. It manifests itself in many ways. First, 
in the form of motion, the ability to move from place to 
place, or to move other things from one place to another. 
Then in the form of sensation, feeling, seeing, hearing, and 
thinking. The ability to do any or all of these things is 
conferi'ed by our food. Thought, motion, heat, as manifested 
in the body, are all conferred by food. The body has the 
peculiar power of abstracting these things from bread and 
meat. Go without food, and all these functions of the body 
gradually die away, and life becomes extinct. Perhaps this 
point may be made more clear by an illustration. You give 
your child a good hickory bow and arrow. He bends the 
bow on its string, adjusts the arrow and pulls the string 
back a few inches. Now what has he done ? Why simply 
stored up in the bow a part of the strength of his arm. 
But how did he get that strength ? The sunshine of last 
summer stored it up in the bread, meat, and potatoes he ate 
for breakfast. His body has the power to unfasten this 
force and apply it to bending the bow. When he lets go the 
string the arrow flies away, and the force is, so far as he is 
concerned, lost. The food we eat does for us what the coal 
does for the engine on the railroad train, it furnishes the 
motive power, only the body is a living machine and can 
think and feel, which the engine cannot do. 

Now we see why we eat. It is, first, to increase the size 
of the body; second, to supply the waste or loss by the daily 
wear and tear ; third, to maintain a proper degree of warmth 
for the body, and fourth, to supply the energy by which we 
move, think and feel. 



CHAPTER 11. 

CLASSIFICATIOiq" OF ALIMENTS. 

THE classification of foods now accepted by men of sci- 
ence is perfectly simple and easy. All the substances 
used come under one of four heads. These are : 

1. Proteids. 

2. Fats. 

3. Amyloids. 
4 Minerals. 

The proteids are generally known as albuminous, or nitro- 
genous substances. They take first rank in the material for 
building up the fleshy part of the body. They include the 
gluten of wheat, the albumen of white of egg, the muscle of 
flesh, the casein of cheese, and a few other unimportant sub- 
stances. 

The fats include all oils and fats, whether animal or vege- 
table. They are called the non-nitrogenous articles of diet, 
because they contain no nitrogen. Butter, fat meat, vege- 
table and animal oils, oily nuts, etc., etc., are of this class. 
They are also called hydro-carbons. 

The amyloids include starch, dextrine, sugar and gums. 
They are also non-nitrogenous and hydro-carbons ; but the 
hydrogen and oxygen are in the form of water, while in the 
fats the oxygen is not in sufficient quantity to satisfy the 
affinity of the hydrogen. 

The minerals are water and certain salts of alkalies, and 
other substances, such as go to make up the bones and teeth. 
They act as regulators of nutrition. 

None, however, of these substances alone will perfectly 



CLASSIFICATION OF AUMElSTTSi 11 

nourish tlie body. All of them must be present. The food 
which Nature has provided for the newborn babe is the only 
one which perfectly illustrates a combination of them all. 

1. The curd of milk is Skproteid. 

2. The cream or butter of milk is a faf. 

3. The sugar of milk is an amyloid. 

4. The water, magnesium, potassium, iron, sodium, lime, 
phosphorus, etc., are the minerals. 

Is this not simple and beautiful ? How perfectly good 
milk nourishes the young. If in after years, when we eat 
and drink what we please, we were to choose food so wisely 
adapted to our wants as the Creator does for the child, it 
would save much suffering. 

THE PROTEIDS. 

Now let us look at the functions of the different kinds of 
food. This subject is not so well understood as we wish it 
was ; still what is known will help to decide somewhat as 
to the choice of articles of diet. First in the list come the 
proteids. What is their function in the body ? One point 
at least seems settled, that their chief value is to construct 
and repair the tissues of the body. The nerves, the muscles, 
the glands, the secretions of the mouth, stomach and ali- 
mentary canal Avhich help to transform our food, are all pro- 
teids. Parke says that every structure in the body in which 
any form of force is manifested, as heat, electricity, or mechan- 
ical action, is mainly built up of these proteids. This is so 
the Avorld over. May Ave not, then, safely conclude, that the 
main function of the proteids is to build up and repair cer- 
tain tissues of the body ? It is also believed that by oxidation 
they develop some heat, and a small portion of the strength 
of the frame. If the proteids are cut off the functions of 
the body languish. If we wish to increase the power of the 
body to do work, we must invariably increase the consump- 
tion of proteids. 



12 CLASSIFICATION OF ALIMENTS. 



THE FATS AND THEIR FUNCTION, OR USE. 

The fats are, in the scientific works on food, called hydro- 
carbons. They contain some oxygen, but never enough to 
satisfy the affinities of the carbon and hydrogen. For this 
reason they are powerful generators of heat. An ounce of 
fat burned in the fire generates a large amount of heat. An 
equal weight of it when burned will produce two and a half 
times as much heat as dry starch, or sugar. Some idea of its 
wonderful heating properties may be gained by the fact that 
ten grains of fat burned so as to save all its heat, will raise 
the temperature of twenty-three pounds of water one degree. 
This is sufficient to raise 18,000 pounds weight one foot high. 
Their two great uses, then, are first, to maintain animal heat ; 
and second, to generate force. It is very easy to see how it 
does the former, by burning in the body ; but how heat be- 
comes force is not so easy to see. That it does in the steam- 
engine is evident, and the same is true in the body. The 
man who does a hard day's work, does so by virtue of the 
fact that he is, so far as his labor is concerned, an engine. 
The muscles do not furnish the strength, they only transmit 
it. The wheels of the engine do not furnish the strength, 
that is the power behind them. Not only the heat of the 
body, but the working power of it, is largely due to the con- 
sumption of fat. (The reader must not confound fat with 
fat meat alone, butter is a fat, and so are oils and oily nuts.) 

Still another use of fats is that, like the proteids, when 
taken into the body, they enter into its structure, forming 
in all cases an essential part of muscle, nerve, brain, and 
other organs; and also entering largely into the adipose 
tissue. 

Besides these important and principal functions of fat, 
it has minor uses in the processes of digestion, assimilation, 
and nutrition, and, it is believed, in the formation of bile. 
Food digests more readily if fat is mixed with it. It also 



CLASSIFICATION OF ALIMEISTS. 13 

plays an important part iu the formation of cells, blood 
corpuscles, and even the generation of blood. It is present 
in large quantities in the tubules of tlie nerves; and in all 
the nervous centers serves some highly important function 
in nervous action. 

Indeed the distribution of it in every tissue and its accu- 
mulation around certain organs, serves to fill up the cavities 
of the body and give roundness to the form, equalizes the 
external pressure, and diminishes friction ; and, by its bad 
conducting property, retains animal heat. Fat, therefore, 
must ever be regarded as highly important to the physical 
development of the body, and any system of diet that ex- 
cludes it is faulty and to be condemned. 

An interesting case of the evil effects of the non-use of 
fats was recently brought to our notice. A gentleman of 
education and refinement, in rather feeble health, put him- 
self under the care of a physician Avho ordered him to ab- 
stain from all butter, sugar, salt, milk and meat, and to live 
exclusively on fiirinaceous articles and fruits. The result 
was that he lost rapidly in flesh and strength, and soon took 
to his bed. The physician insisting that he would in the 
end be better for this course, advised him to continue it. 
The patient thinking that hickory nuts were not forbidden, 
purchased a quantity and ate freely of them. Being very 
rich in fatty matter, they supplied the place of butter and 
fat meat perfectly, and he soon became much better and be- 
lieved he had made a great discovery in the dietetic value of 
this nut. We may add, this nut is excellent food for those 
who can digest it and for those who abstain from animal 
fats it will often prove to be very valuable. "Where oily foods 
are not used, the proteids exist in excess in the blood, and 
furnish more nitrogen than can be used. The result is that 
the system is poisoned and seriously sufiers. 



CHAPTEE III. 



THE AMYLOIDS. 



THE word "amyloid" is from two Greek words, which, 
taken together, signify "resembling starch." The prin- 
cipal amyloids are starch in its various forms,. as arrow-root, 
corn-starch, potato-starch, etc. ; sugar in the form of grape- 
sugar, milk-sugar, cane-sugar ; honey and cellulose. Cellu- 
lose is the woody substance of plants, after all other mat- 
ter in their composition is dissolved and washed away. 

The amyloids, like the fats, discussed in the last chapter, 
are destitute of nitrogen, and are composed of only oxygen, 
hydrogen, and carbon. They are the true hydro-carbons. 
(A hydro-carbon is a substance in which the hydrogen and 
oxygen are in the proportion to form water ; and, to make 
the matter perfectly simple, we might call them water-car- 
bons — hydro meaning water.) Liebig divided foods into two 
great classes, nitrogenous and non-nitrogenous, and fats 
and amyloids come under the latter head ; but as they are 
very different in their chemical composition, and in their 
uses, they have more recently been subdivided. Liebig 
thought their use was to support animal heat, and this they 
do to a certain extent ; but, as before remarked, they do 
not equal the fats in this respect. The reason of this is, 
that the fats contain a great deal of hydrogen in excess of 
what, with its oxygen, forms water, and this excess, when 
burned, helps to maintain heat. The following table will 
make this clear : 



THE AMYLOIDS. 15 

CALORIFIC POWER OF TEN GRAINS OF THE SUBSTANCE IN 
ITS NATURAL STATE. 

Lbs. of water raised 1° F. 

Grape sugar 8.42 

Lump sugar 8.61 

Arrow-root 10.06 

Butter 18.60 

Beef fat 20.91 

From the above instructive table it will be seen that fat 

is over twice as valuable a heat-producing agent as starch. 

This might be inferred by throwing an ounce of each into 

the fire, and noticing the difierence in the amount of blaze 

they produce. 

There is also the same difference in the amount of work 

these substances will do when burned, as the following table 

will show : 

MOTIVE POWER OF TEN GRAINS OF THE SUBSTANCE IN ITS 
NATURAL STATE. 

Lbs. lifted one foot high. 

Grape sugar 6,500 

Lump sugar 6,647 

Arrow-root 7,766 

Butter 14,441 

Beef fat 16,142 

That the above may be made perfectly clear, it must be 
understood that any substance which, when burned, will 
heat a pound of water one degree, will, by another mode of 
action, raise 772 pounds one foot high. This seems marvel- 
ous at first sight ; but the marvel will disappear when we 
consider the wonderful power that a little coal generates in 
the engine of an ocean steamer, and in this case much of 
the power is lost, as no engine has yet been made perfect 
enough to save all the force generated by the fire under the 
boiler. 



16 THE AMYLOIDS. 

But the amyloids have other important uses in the sys- 
tem besides the generation of heat. In the first place, they 
may be converted into fat, and stored up in the system for 
future use. This has been abundantly proved by numerous 
experiments. Perhaps as good an illustration of its truth is 
the one familiar to most, that the negroes of the South al- 
ways become fat from the sweets they eat during the season 
for gathering the cane and manufacturing its juice into 
sugar. Indeed, it is generally thought that most, if not all, 
of the fat of the system is produced from the amyloids of 
the food we consume. Other uses still remain for the amy- 
loids. In the processes of digestion and circulation, they 
are converted into lactic acid, found both in the stomach 
and in the flesh, and into butyric, formic, and acetic acids, 
found in the sweat. These acids have their uses in the vari- 
ous reactions of the fluids of the system — the blood being 
alkaline, while most of the secretions are acid. They also 
assist in the solution of effete matter in the system, and ren- 
der it more easy of removal. 



MIKERAL MATTER. 

The bodies of men and animals contain a very con- 
siderable amount of mineral matter, and this comes from 
the food we eat. Minerals constitute one of the important 
divisions of food as now divided. The bones and teeth are 
largely composed of mineral matter. They also constitute 
an important element of the blood, and of many of the secre- 
tions. Nearly every tissue contains a small amount of min- 
eral matter. The principal minerals of the body are calcium 
(the base of lime), magnesium, potassium (base of potash), 
sodium (base of soda), iron, chlorine, phosphorus, and sul- 
phur ; water is also included in this list. The minerals are 
equally important with the proteids, fats, and amyloids. 
Lime, chiefly in the form of phosphate, is absent from no 



THE AMTLOIDS. 17 

tissue. No cell growth can go on without it. Lime and 
magnesia are necessary to bone growth. 

Potash and soda, combined in the form of phosphates and 
chlorides, are important. They are thought to be concern- 
ed in the molecular currents. They form parts of nearly all 
tissues. Potash seems to constitute an important part of 
the formed tissues, while soda is contained in the fluids that 
bathe them. 

Chlorine and phosphoric acid exist in* considerable quan- 
tities. Chlorine is found combined with sodium, and also 
in a most important acid, the hydrochloric ; and has a spe- 
cial action on the proteids. The phosphoric acid produces 
important actions with the alkalies. Nearly all food con- 
tains them. 

Iron is found in all foods, and is an important constituent 
of red blood corpuscles, and in the coloring matter of red 
flesh. A small amount of iron is found in nearly every 
tissue. 

Sulphur and phosphorus exist in the tissues as important 
constituents of the proteids, or albuminates. 

Silica is present in the integuments, the hair, nails, 
etc., and in the lower animals is more important than in 
man. 

It has been one of the most difficult problems of physioL 
ogists to discover the uses of some of the minerals of the 
blood. It was easy enough to discover th» uses of lime to 
build up the bones and teeth ; but the other minerals had 
uses more difficult to find out. Even yet there is doubt 
and uncertainty about it. Still much is known, and it is 
pretty certain that the mineral constituents of blood are 
largely concerned in the constant changes going on in the 
body. In the first place, the food, as it goes into the 
stomach for digestion, could never be digested or absorbed 
through the microscopic absorbing vessels if not rendered 
perfectly fluid, and this is done by the minerals contained 



18 THE AMYLOIDS. 

in the gastric and pancreatic juices. They give a soluble 
form to those substances which would otherwise be semi- 
fluid, like glue or jelly. They maintain this fluidity in the 
blood that it may circulate through the arteries and veins 
and capillaries. It is very curious, but probably true, that 
as the nutrient material leaves the blood and is converted 
into tissue, this too is done by means of the help of the 
mineral constituents of the blood. In the blood, which is 
alkaline, the proteids remain fluid ; but in the flesh, which 
is acid, they lose their fluidity and become solid. 

Then, again, when auy tissue is worn out and must be re- 
moved from the system, it needs become fluid again, and 
this is accomplished by the action of mineral substances. 

Letheby says : " As to the special functions of each of the 
saline (or mineral) constituents of food, little can be said ; 
but it is a remarkable fact that the alkaline (or basic) phos- 
phate of soda is invariably found in the blood, while the acid 
phosphate of potash is the chief constituent of the juice of 
flesh ; and," he continues, " most likely the former is con- 
cerned in preserving the liquid condition of albumen and 
fibrin, and so keeping them from being lost by secretion, 
while the latter is engaged in an opposite duty." 

The following table will show the relative amounts of dif- 
ferent minerals in human blood : 

Phosphoric acid 31.79 

Alkalies.. 55.66 

Alkaline earths 3.33 

» Mineral acids and oxide of iron 9.22 

100.00 

Just how much of each mineral our food should contain 
for each day is not so easy to answer; but Dr. Edward 
Smith says that a full-grown man requires daily from 32 to 
79 grains of phosphoric acid, 51 to 175 of chlorine (equal to 



THE AMYLOIDS. 19 

from 85 to 291 of common salt), 27 to 107 of potash, from 
80 to 171 of soda, and from 3 to 6 of lime, and 2 to 3 of 
magnesia. 

According to La"wes, these minerals are not stored up in 
the system to any extent. He found that of every 1 1 lbs. 
taken into the body, but 12 oz. remained, the rest be- 
ing unabsorbed, or used in the work of secretion and ex- 
cretion. 

From what has been said, the reader must feel that the 
subject of food, and eating, and drinking, is a very elaborate 
one. The system, to do the best work, requires each day a 
certain amount of a great variety of substances. Excess of 
one and deficiency of another may cause serious disease, or 
prevent the full play of all the faculties. Too much of the 
proteids poison by an excess of nitrogenous matter. Too 
little of the fats and amyloids prevents the generation of 
heat and force, and reduces the heat and vigor of the body, 
while their excess produces coi*pulency, and other diseases — it 
may be fevers, colds, etc. ; while an excess of the minerals 
produces gout, gravel, rheumatism, and their deficiency pre- 
vents the full play of secretion and excretion. 



I 



CHAPTER IV. 

MI]SrERAL MATTER CONTINUED. 

!N" our last chapter the function of mineral matter was dis- 
cussed ; before closing this subject we desire to add a few 
words concerning common salt. The value of this mineral 
has been stoutly denied by a few modern hygienists, and 
there will be no doubt many readers of this book inclined 
to take this view of the question, and perhaps many of 
them never use it. It is not our intention to enter into 
any discussion on this subject, but to present briefly the 
points in its favor put forward by those who maintain that 
it has a normal relation to the healthy action of the body. 
Salt does not enter into the composition of the tissues, but 
it is a large constituent of every one of the secretions, the 
saliva, gastric juice, bile and sweat, and exists in the blood 
in larger amounts than any other mineral matter. Indeed, 
about one-half of the mineral matter of the blood is salt. 
This amount in the blood cannot be much increased. If one 
should use a very large amount of it with his food, any 
excess beyond a certain amount is immediately thrown out 
in the excretions. Letheby says : " It is a curious fact that 
common salt has the faculty of forming crystallizable com- 
pounds with most of the organized and eflete constituents 
of the body ; " and inquires, " May it not therefore be an im- 
portant agent of diffusion ; and be thus concerned in the 
phenomena of absorption and secretion ? for albumen and 
fibrin cannot pass through the walls of the intestines, or the 
blood-vessels. It may well be that through the agency of 
common salt and the free acid of the gastric juice, they 



MEtTEEAL MATTER. 31 

temporarily assume a condition in which they can be ab- 
sorbed and secreted." 

Tlie same author also adds that "The experiments of 
Boussingault on animals have shown that, although salt 
mixed with the fodder does not much affect the quantity of 
flesh, fat, or milk obtained from them, yet it seriously affects 
their appearance and general condition ; for animals de- 
prived of salt other than that naturally contained in the 
food soon get heavy and dull in their temperament, and have 
a rough and staring coat." 

Eeulin states that animals which do not find it in their 
food or drink become less prolific, and the breed rapidly 
diminishes in number. 

Dr. Le Saine says that salt increases the fertility and 
doubles the power of nourishing the foetus, and renders the 
milk more abundant and nutritive. It also gives a finer 
condition to the skin, and the flesh of animals is more 
digestible and better flavored which partake of it. Probably 
one use of salt is to increase the amount of saliva and gastric 
juice secreted. That it does this is certain. Salty food is 
sure to excite the salivary glands to intense action, they 
throwing out large quantities of saliva. If the amount of 
salt in food, however, is too great, this object is partly de- 
feated, as we are apt to swallow the food too rapidly and 
before it is well chewed and incoi*porated with the juices ; 
and this is a serious evil. 

Such are a few of the views of eminent writers on the 
value of salt. 

The instinct for salt, seen almost everywhere, is vividly 
related by many writers. It is said that on the coast of 
Sierra Leone brothers will sell their sisters, husbands their 
wives, and parents their children for it. Another writer 
adds, that on the gold coast of Africa a handful of salt will 
buy one or two slaves. It is said, in barbarous times the 
most horrible punishment was to feed criminals on food 



23 MINKEAL MATTER. 

without salt. We are, however, inclined to believe that 
there is a good deal of extravagance of statement in all such 
stories. At any rate, what is true of savages and of animals, 
whose choice of food is narrow and meagre, is no rule for 
civilized beings who have a great variety of food, rich in 
mineral matter. Moreover, we have known many persons 
to refuse to eat salt with their food for weeks and months, 
and declare they were improved by abstinence from it. We 
are of the opinion that while a moderate use of salt may be 
advisable, most people eat far too much of it ; in this way 
corrupting the appetite and taste, and taxing to far too 
great an extent the excretory organs in getting rid of it. 
Then, too, those who live on foods rich in mineral matter 
would naturally^need less of this mineral. So, too, a con- 
stantly improving agriculture improves our foods. By using 
salt largely on certain crops as a fertilizer they may probably 
be made to contain more of it, and thus it will be introduced 
into our systems as a constituent of our food, and not as a 
condiment. That its use on almost everything, and the un- 
savoriness of foods without it, is a mere habit, and not an 
instinct, cannot be doubted. 

In using salt, therefore, we advise moderation. Learn to 
use some articles of diet without it, and others with but 
little ; and make up for any deficiency of this article by such 
foods as are rich in mineral matter, of such kinds as are im- 
portant in the animal economy. 

CONDIMENTS. 

A discussion of foods and drinks which should omit con- 
diments would be very incomplete. According to Dr. 
Letheby, " they are merely stimulants of the digestive 
organs, promoting the flow of saliva, gastric juice, and other 
intestinal secretions, and increasing the peristaltic movement 
of the viscera. * Thus they aid in the processes of digestion, 
and by giving flavor to the food they whet the appetite and 



MINERAL MATTER. 23 

BO increase the relish for it. Food is made more palatable, 
and digestion promoted." 

Many eschew condiments entirely, and to manifest advan- 
tage. William Cullen Bryant, in a letter published a couple 
of years ago in The Herald of Health, said : " Even with 
my food I do not take the usual condiments, such as pepper 
and the like." 

They contain no nutriment. Where used, they should be 
free from adulteration, of the best quality, and of the finest 
kinds. Pot herbs are used often for condiments, especially 
for broths and soups. The best of condiments used in 
moderation are doubtless useful, though not essential to 
high health. Flint, in his great work on physiology, says of 
them: "The refinements of modern cookery involve the use 
of articles which cannot be classed as alimentary principles. 
Pepper, capsicum, vinegar, mustard, spices, and articles of 
this class, which are so commonly used, with the various 
compound sauces, have no decided influence on nutrition, 
except in so far as they promote the secretion of the diges- 
tive fluids. * * * The various flavoring seeds and leaves, 
truffles, mushrooms, etc., have no physiological importance, 
except as rendering articles of food more palatable." 

In addition to the above we give the following from Pro- 
fessor F. W. Newman. It appeared in the January number 
of The London Dietetic Reformer. "In the writings of 
several leading vegetarians it is noticeable that they profess 
to take no condiments but salt. Mr. G. Dornbusch does not 
even take salt. I feel that this subject needs more light 
thrown on it. Salt being a mineral seems, at first sight, to 
need a justification. I find it in the fact that horses and 
cows love grass which has a taste of salt, and the American 
bisons make long pilgrimages to lick the salt rocks ; in the 
notorious fact that it kills worms in children. Hence it 
may be inferred that a certain portion of it is healthful, and 
preservative from ailments. When instinct and common 



34 MINERAL MATTER. 

sense point to a conclusion it is satisfactory to have corro- 
boration from science. And here we find that the gastric 
juice is reported to us as containing muriatic acid, for wliich 
salt, being muriate of soda, gives a supply. Besides, salt is 
one of the ingredients of blood. Thus salt is really food, 
though any excess of it is of course mischievous. 

" But that vegetarians should sweepingly renounce vege- 
table condiments comes to me as a paradox. So much of 
condiments as tends to thirst I warmly deprecate, and with 
difficulty bear a very minute taste of cayenne pepper or 
curry. But are we to foreswear mint, sage, mace, cloves, 
cinnamon, caraway, ginger, pepper, and all spices ? Where 
shall we stop ? What of mustard and cress, and watercress, 
celery, orange, and citron peel ? As a special example, rice 
is so tasteless that the hardiest rustics (Turks and Arabs) 
reject it unless some condiment be added. Salt and butter 
are their ordinary demand, and then they call it pilau (pro- 
nounced pilow). The English generally expect milk with 
it, or milk and sugar. All watery vegetables seem to need 
some condiment. Salt may suffice, but it is difficult to 
understand why other tasty articles are to be banished from 
our tables." 



CHAPTER V. 

VALUES OF FOOD. 

AT this point of our studies it will be well for us to 
carefully look iuto the heating power derived from 
food, as well as the mechanical force extracted from it. We 
shall draw freely from the works of Franklaud, Letheby, 
Parkes, and other writers, whose experiments are of recent 
date and most reliable. 

HEATING POWER OF FOOD. 

* Lbs. of water 10 gra. will heat 

NAME OF FOOD. 1« when burned in the body. 

Butter 18.68 

Cheshire cheese 11.20 

Oatmeal 10. 10 

Wlieat flour 9.87 

Pea meal 9.57 

Ground rice 9.53 

Yolk of egg 8.50 

Lump sugar 8.61 

Grape sugar 8.43 

Boiled eggs ; 5.86 

Lean beef 3.66 

Lean veal 3.01 

Potatoes , 2.56 

White of egg 1.48 

Milk 1 . 64 

Carrots 1.33 

Cabbage 1.08 

Theoretically, the amount of work which can be done by 
foods, that is, the number of pounds that can be raised one 
foot high is 772 times the number of pounds of water it 
will, by burning, heat one degree. Therefore, to find the 



26 VALUES OF FOOD. 

comparative value of foods to support strength, multiply the 
above figures by this sum. It must not be supposed, how- 
ever, that these figures are yet fixed beyond improvement, 
though it is certain they are very nearly correct. It is, of 
course, understood that when these vahies are got out of 
foods, they must all be digested, and completely absorbed 
and converted into nutriment; and this is never done. No 
invention ever made is so perfect as this. The human 
body, perfect as we think it is when in robust health, is 
not perfect enough to get all the virtue out of food. A 
working diet of 4|- ounces of perfectly dry nitrogenous mat- 
ter, and 22|- ounces of dry carbonaceous matter— equivalent 
to a daily allowance of some six pounds of ordinary food — 
possesses, theoretically, a working value sufficient to raise 
10,874,136 pounds one foot high, yet the most work that 
can actually be got out of this amount of food is — •includ- 
ing the beating of the heart, and respiration — not over 
1,610,206 pounds. From this it will be seen that there is 
a vast difference between the theoretical and the actual 
value of food in work. No allowance, however, is here made 
for the food used up in thought, in feeling, emotion, and 
the molecular movements of the body. This cannot, in the 
present state of science, be calculated — if it ever can. 

It has been found by experiments on a large number of 
men, that the carbonic acid exhaled and urea secreted daily 
in the amount of food mentioned above, really should sup- 
ply force sufficient to raise 7,720,000 pounds one foot high, 
while the actual work is only about one-sixth of this amount. 
What becomes of the other force? Is it lost,. or used up in 
mental and molecular labor, which cannot be measured? 
It must be the latter. 

AlSr INTEKESTIIS'G COMPAKISON". 

Letheby in his work says: "In the steam engine, ac- 
cording to Sir William Armstrong, only a tenth part of the 



VALUES OF FOOD. 27 

actual powei* of the fuel is realized in work. The human 
machine is therefore more economical of its force than a 
steam engine; in fact it is assumed by Heidenham that 
less than half the force applied to the living muscles, as it 
is developed in their tissues, is realized. But although the 
animal machine is so much more economical of force than 
the steam engine, yet on account of the costliness of its food 
(fuel), it is far more expensive." Taking, for example, a 
steam engine of one-horse power, it will take two horses to 
do the same work for ten hours a day, or twenty-four men. 
Now, the cost for fuel for the engine will be about twenty 
cent's worth of coal; for the horses, about $2 worth of 
hay and oats ; and for the men about $10 worth of bread, 
butter and meat." 



CHAPTER VI. 

SOUECE OF MUSCULAR STRENGTH. 

IK a general way we have already shown that our strength 
of body comes from our food. It is proper now for ua 
to inquire whether it comes from the proteids, fats, amyloids, 
or salts. Liebig taught us that all muscular strength exerted 
was at the expense, the breaking down, using up, metamor- 
phosis, or oxydation of the muscular tissue. So much mus- 
cle destroyed, so much strength exerted. Now the proteids, 
that is, the albumen, fibrin, gluten in our food go to make up 
muscular structure ; and Liebig taught, and all physiolo- 
gists accepted his doctrine, that during exercise the des- 
truction of the muscles was the source of the strength exer- 
ted. This would be very much like a theory that a saw-mill 
received all its power to saw logs from the wear and tear 
of itself. His theory made it necessary that the proteids of 
our food should be converted into muscle, and then during 
exertion destroyed, new proteids constantly, during rest, 
being converted into muscle for further use. Liebig also 
taught that the fats and amyloids were only necessary 
to supjily heat for the body ; but it seemed never to have 
entered his head that they were the source of muscular 
power. 

In the present state of science this is all changed. Now 
the muscles are not regarded as the source of strength, 
but the veJiide to convey or exert it. In exercise they are 
not metamorphosed, or oxydized, or used up to an extent 
sujfficient to account for all the streixgth ; but their destruc- 



SOURCE OF MUSCULAR STRENGTH. 29 

tion is comparatively small. Now the theory is that the 
proteids supply the material for building up, constructing 
the body, and especially the muscles ; but the main source 
of muscular strength is the fats and amyloids. 

How came about this change of view ? In this wise. It 
was found that men could do very hard work for awhile 
when deprived of proteids in their food. It was also found 
that the urea in the urine was not in sufficient quan- 
tity to account for all the force exerted, nor was it much 
more (often less) during long continued exercise than 
during repose. As long ago as 1861 Troube asserted that 
all muscular strength was derived from the oxydation of 
the fats and hydro-carbons ; and in 1864 Donders was con- 
vinced that the transformation of muscle was not sufficient 
to explain all the force exerted in the body. Soon after, 
Dr. Edward Smith showed that while the amount of urea 
in the urine (urea is the product of the oxydation of mus- 
cle) was not increased by exercise the amount of carbonic 
acid (carbonic acid is a product of the oxydation of the car- 
bon of the fats and hydro-carbons) was greatly increased, 
shoAving that during the manifestation of muscular power 
there was a great increase in the destruction of fats and 
amyloids. The most powerful argument, however, against 
Liebig's theory was yet to be given, one which Liebig 
himself saw the force of, and never satisfactorily ans- 
wered. It is the argument, or rather the result of the experi- 
ments of Fick and Wislicenus, made in August, 1866. The 
results of these experiments were carefully and elaborately 
printed in The Herald of Health for September of that 
year. In order to make the subject clear, a very brief state- 
ment of these experiments is necessary. On the 29th day of 
August, 1866, these gentlemen prepared themselves for the 
work of climbing to the top of one of the Bernese Alps 
mountains, called the Faulhorn, 6,417 feet above Lake 
Brentz. Their object was to see if their muscular strength 



30 SOURCE OF MUSCULAE STRENGTH. 

could be supported in this arduous uudertakiug on fats and 
amyloids and without nitrogenous food, which could be 
converted into muscle and then oxygenized. To prepare 
themselves for the work, for seventeen hours before they 
commenced their ascent they ate only solid food, composed 
of starch, fat and sugar, compressed into solid cakes. They 
began their ascent by the steepest and most dangerous route 
at 5.30 in the morning, and at twenty minutes past one in 
the afternoon they had, loithout fatigue, finished their jour- 
ney. Now what was the result ? 

1. That they had, without a nitrogenous diet, easily 
accomplished their task. 

2. That the amount of nitrogen excreted was one-third 
less during the hours of vigorous exercise than the hours 
before and afterward. 

This not wholly unexpected result was almost conclusive 
proof that the source of muscular power is mainly found in 
fats and amyloids, and not in the proteids. 

Now let us glance at the work done. 

Fick, weighing 145|- pounds, had climbed 6,417.5 feet 
high. This was equivalent to raising 933,746 pounds one 
foot high. Wislicenus, weighing 167.5 pounds, had climbed 
to the same height, which was equivalent to raising 1,074,931 
pounds one foot high. In addition, however, to the mere 
labor of ascending the mountain, was the labor of the beat- 
ing of the heart, and respiration. Now, according to the 
calculations of Bonders, each heart beat is estimated to be 
equal to raising 4.65 pounds one foot high, and each respira- 
tion equal to 4.56 pounds one foot high. Let us then add 
this to the other work done. Fick says that during his 
ascent the heart beat at the unusual rate of 120 per minute, 
while his respirations were 25 per minute. There then 
must be added to the other work for this man 220,968 
pounds for heart and respiration work ; and if Wislicenus 
was in the same proportion there must be added for him 



SOURCE OF MUSCULAR STRENGTH. 31 

257,796 pounds. Adding these sums together we liavc the 
work done as follows : 

Fick, in 5^ hours' work, 1,154,714 pounds raised one foot 
high ; Wislicenus 1,332,727 pounds one foot high. Kow 
the amount of urea excreted in Fick shows a destruction of 
muscle which, perfectly oxygenized, would only have raised 
498,525 pounds one foot, while Wislicenus shows the des- 
truction of even less, namely sufficient to only raise 481,618 
pounds one foot high. These results show conclusively 
that, in their cases at least, by far the larger source of mus- 
cular strength was derived, not from tlie destruction of 
muscle and nitrogenous food, but from the destruction of 
fats and amyloids ; the proportion being about two-thirds 
of the latter to one-third of the former. 

Recent experiments confirm the general result of those 
above given. From an economical point of view, these re- 
sults are interesting. If the source of muscular strength 
is entirely the destruction of muscular tissue, then the 
labor of assimilation, the constant repair of destroyed muscle 
would be very much greater than economy would dictate, 
for all the nitrogenous food would have to be converted into 
muscle before available. But if the source of strength is 
largely fatty and amylaceous matter, then much is saved, 
for they become oxydized and give out their virtues in the 
capillaries when they meet the oxygen. 

Whether brain and nerve energy has the same origin is 
not yet settled, but there is little doubt that, to a certain 
extent, they have ; though it is likely the addition of phos- 
phorus, and perhaps other substances, are necessary for this 
work. 

The practical value of these facts might be very great, if 
properly applied. We shall discuss this point as we proceed. 



CHAPTEE VII. 

THE DAILY WANTS OF THE BODY. 

THE requirements of the body vary wibli age, sex, occupa- 
tion, health, work done, climate, and race. Therefore 
any attempt to decide just how much any person should eat 
would be fruitless. Still some facts may be useful and in- 
structive. In the first place it may be stated that as a 
general rule a healthy man requires from 700 to 800 pounds 
of perfectly dry food in a year. This amounts to about two 
pounds of solid matter daily. In addition to this are re- 
quired from five to six pounds of fluid. So, again, a man 
cannot live well on the meagre diet of a pound of bread 
daily, with water, but will become thin and weak. It is 
said that the poor needle-women of London almost starve 
on a daily allowance of a pound and a half of bread and an 
ounce and a half of butter daily. 

It is well known that farm laborers have a good appetite 
and eat heartily. Dr. Edward Smith made inquiries into 
the food allowance of some hundreds of families in Eng- 
land, Wales, Ireland, and Scotland, and formed the following 
tables : 

AVERAGE DAILY DIET OF FARM LABORERS IK GREAT 
BRITAIN". 



England 


Dry Nitrogenous 

Matter. 

3.18 ozg 


Dry Carbonaceous 
Matter. 
29.32 ozs. 


Wales 


, 4.13 " 


35.51 " 


Scotland 


4.76 " 


36.30 " 


Ireland 


4.94 " 


34.26 " 



THE DAILY WANTS OF THE BODY. 33 

Dr. Playfair, who also made extensive observations in the 
same field of inquiry, gives in his valuable Avork the follow- 
ing table : 

DAILY DIET ACCORDING TO WOEK DONE. 

Flesh-formers. Fat. Starch and sugar. 

Subsistence diet 2.0 0.5 12.0 

Quietude 2.5 1.0 12.0 

Moderate exercise 4.2 1.8 18.7 

Active labor 5.5 2.5 20.0 

Hard work 6.5 2.5 20.0 

According to Voit and Pettenkofer, an adult working- 
man requires daily five ounces of nitrogenous matter and 
twenty-three ounces of carbonaceous matter (calculated as 
starch). 

According to Liebig, the Bavarian wood-choppers, who 
live five and a half days in the forests, are allowed three and a 
half pounds of fat, eight pounds of meal, and four and a half 
pounds of bread for five days' rations. This equals four and 
one-third ounces of nitrogenous matter and fifty ounces of 
carbonaceous matter. The Eussian peasant has his yearly 
rations apportioned to equal five and two-thirds ounces of 
nitrogenous matter and forty-two and a half of carbona- 
ceous. The Chinese laborer eats daily four and two-thirds 
ounces of dry nitrogenous and thirty-six and one-third 
ounces of carbonaceous. 

These statements will not, perhaps, enlighten our readers 
much, unless they carry them further. This, however, is 
certain, the working-man requires about six times as much 
carbonaceous food as nitrogenous. Children, however, who 
have bodies to build up, require a larger proportion of nitro- 
genous ; and so do those who are run down in flesh, and need 
building up, while, on the other hand, those who suffer from 
a lack of animal heat, require perhaps more carbonaceous. 

Now it becomes a matter of some importance how we are 
to eat, so as to combine in our foods the right proportions 



34 THE DAILY "WANTS OF THE BODY. 

of these different elements, and also mineral matter. This 
is no easy task. Science may aid us in the decision, but we 
must rely largely on good judgment and instinct, provided 
the former is instructed by science and the latter not per- 
verted by bad habits and depraved tastes. 

Science teaches, according to Letheby, that the best pro- 
portions of food for the body are, of fat, nine parts ; of 
flesh-forming material, twenty-two parts; and of starch 
and sugar, sixty-nine parts. To this the same author 
adds, that when we eat of a food which is deficient in any 
necessary ingredient, we generally combine with it another, 
which contains an excess of it. For instance, we combine 
bread with butter, lean meat with potatoes, salad with 
eggs. On the other hand, we should never mix together a 
great variety of foods containing an excess of carbonaceous 
matter, and a deficiency of nitrogenous. 

DISTRIBUTIOK OF MEALS. 

As a general rule, savages eat when they can get food. 
If it is abundant, tliey eat nearly all the day long; if 
it is scarce, they live on one meal a day. They are like ani- 
mals in this respect. They are as little injured by it as the 
cow or horse that grazes from morn till night on the 
sweet grass of the pasture. Civilized beings must not 
do this, because their mental and physical labors would 
seriously interfere with the processes of digestion. As a 
rule, three meals a day are best for most persons, though two 
meals are ample, and better for some. It depends on the 
Mnd of food, rapidity of digestion, and work done, how 
often we should eat. Our meals should be so arranged as not 
to offend the taste and burden the digestive powers. 

BAD DIETETIC HABITS. 

We suppose there is no doubt but at least half the ill 
health of the world comes from improper eating. 



THE DAILY WANTS OF THE BODY. 35 

An excess of carbonaceous food promotes the formation 
of fat, and prevents the complete nourishment of the 
muscles. 

It gives a person bulk, but not strength. Vital power is 
deficient in very fat people. 

An excess of nitrogenous food gives rise to diseases of a 
plethoric character — apoplexy, fevers, etc., etc. 

Too little food, we all know, impoverishes the blood, and 
gives rise to feebleness and starvation. Nothing will so 
soon derange the brain and the nervous system as a low diet. 

The salts in our food must neither be in excess nor de- 
ficient. Man cannot live without them any more than 
without the elements which go to form flesh or give heat. 
So too goitre and cretinism are caused by certain minerals 
in the water. There is much to be discovered on this 
subject. 

I. — GENERAL STATISTICS. 

At this point I Avish to add a quotation from Prof. Huxley, 
which will supplement this chapter : 

The average weight of the human body may be taken at 
154 lbs. 

Such a body would be made up of — 

lbs. 

Muscles and their appurtenances 68 

Skeleton 24 

Skin 10^ 

Fat 28 

Brain 3 

Thoracic viscera 2| 

Abdominal viscera 11 

147 

lbs. 

Or of water 88 

Solid matter 66 



36 THE DAILY WANTS OF THE BODY. 

The solids would consist of the elements oxygen, hydro- 
gen, carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulphur, silicon, chlo- 
rine, fluorine, potassium, sodium, calcium (lithium), mag- 
nesium, iron (manganese, copper, lead), and may be ar- 
ranged under the heads of — 

PROTEIDS. AMYLOIDS. FATS. MINERALS. 

Such a body would lose in 24 hours — of water, about 
40,000 grains, or 6 lbs.; of other matters, about 14,500 
grains, or over 2 lbs. ; among which of carbon 4,000 grains ; 
of nitrogea 300 grains; of mineral matters 400 grains ; and. 
would part, per diem, with as much heat as would raise 
8,700 lbs. of water from degree to 1 degree Fahr., which is 
equivalent to 3,000 foot-tons. Such a body ought to do as 
much work as is equal to 450 foot-tons. 

The losses would occur through various organs, thus — by 

Water. 

gra. 

Lungs 5,000 

Kidneys 23,000 

Skin 10,000 

Fseces 2,000 

Total 40,000 14,500 300 4,000 

The gains and losses of the body would be as follows : 

grs. 

Creditor— Solid dry food 8,000 

Oxygen 10,000 

Water 36,500 



Other matter. 


K 


C. 


grs. 


grs. 


grs. 


12,000 




3,300 


1,000 


250 


140 


700 


10 


100 


800 


40 


460 



Total 54,500 

grs. 

Debtor- Water 40,000 

Other matter 14,500 

Total 54,500 



THE DAILY "WANTS OF THE BODY. 37 

II. — DIGESTION". 

Sucli a body would require for daily food, carbon 4,000 
grains ; nitrogen 300 grains, "which, with the other necessary 
elements, would be most conveniently disposed in — 

grs. 

Proteids 2,000 

Amyloids 4,400 

Fats 1,200 

Minerals 400 

Water 36,500 

Total 44,500 

which, in turn, might be obtained, for instance by means 
of— 

grs. 

Lean beefsteaks 5,000 

Bread 6,000 

Milk 7,000 

Potatoes 3,000 

Butter, dripping, etc 600 

Water 22,900 

Total 44,500 

The faeces passed, per diem, would amount to about 2,800 
grains, containing solid matter, 800 grains. 



CHAPTER Vlll. 

DIGESTION. 

IT is well to conclude this portion of our work with a brief 
account of the manner in which foods are converted into 
nutriment. Digestion is a process of washing or rinsing 
from food those substances needed for the nourishment and 
maintenance of the body. It begins in the mouth. During 
each twenty-four hours the salivary glands pour into this 
cavity — mainly during mastication — about three and a half 
pounds of saliva. This contains nearly half an ounce of 
solid matter, and less than a quarter of an ounce of ptyaline, 
which is its active princiisle. Saliva dilutes the food and the 
ptyaline acts on its starch, converting a portion of it into 
sugar. It is calculated that one part of ptyaline will convert 
8,000 parts of starch into sugar. It produces no action on 
fat or albumen. Where the food is well chewed the saliva is 
more thorouglily mixed with it, the starch more completely 
converted, and digestion more perfect. 

The food passes from the mouth into the stomach when it 
meets another digestive fluid, the gastric juice. It has been 
estimated that a healthy stomach secretes fourteen pounds of 
gastric juice daily, which contains less than half a pound of 
solid matter, and two-thirds of an ounce of pepsin, the active 
agent of digestion. The gastric juice converts all the soluble 
albumen and fibrin of food into liquid albumen and fibrin, 
which differs in many particulars from common albumen, 
more especially in this that it is capable of being passed 
through animal membrane by absorption, which al- 
bumen is not. The power of this pepsin in the pres- 



DiGEsnoN. 39 

ence of an acid is enormous, — one part of it being 
capable of converting 60,000 parts of albumen into the con- 
dition before mentioned. It always requires the presence of 
a small amount of free acid to produce this effect. So im- 
portant is pepsin as an agent of digestion, that a large 
business has grown up in England and France, and also in 
America, in preparing it from the stomachs of calves and 
pigs to help the stomachs of poor mortals when overtaxed 
and incapable of digesting sufficient food for the demands 
of the body. A really good article of this pepsin is often 
very serviceable and may be considered a hygienic or physio- 
logical remedy. 

Pepsin is rendered inert by heat or cold, hence either very 
hot or very cold drinks during and after a meal are hurtful. 

The stomach absorbs and carries into the circulation con- 
siderable of the most fluid portion of the partly digested food 
and drink. A large portion, however, passes from this organ 
into the small intestines, in the first portion of which it meets 
with other digestive fluids ; first of which may be mentioned 
is the pancreatic juice, the function of which is to digest the 
oils and fats. It has been estimated that nearly nine pounds 
of pancreatic fluid are secreted daily in a healthy person. 
This contains one pound of solid matter and nearly an ounce 
and a half of pancreatin, which is its active principle. The 
true action of the pancreatic fluid is to break up the oily and 
fatty matter of food into minute particles, so that instead of 
floating on the surface it is converted into a milk-like fluid, 
which can be absorbed through the walls of the intestines 
into the lacteals. Tiiis pancreatic fluid also acts like the 
saliva and converts the remaining starch into sugar. 

Another fluid which meets the food in the intestines is the 
bile from the liver. Nearly four pounds are secreted daily. 
Its use is not yet well known. 

The intestinal secretion is small in quantity, there being 
less than half a pound daily, but it is a powerful aid to 



40 ' DIGESTION. 

digestion and acts equally well on starch, albumen, and 
fat. 

Thus we see that the food eaten meets several fluids, each 
of which helps to fit it for absorption. When digestion is 
perfect a very large part of its nutriment is given up, but 
not all ; a small portion always passes away with the excreta. 

In dyspepsia, the amount of undigested food is often very 
large. 

The mineral substances of our food are mainly soluble 
in water and easily absorbed. 

The aids to digestion are : 

1. Proper selection of food. 

2. Best treatment of food as regards cooking, flavoring, 
and serving. 

3. Proper variety of food, with occasional change of diet. 

4. Moderate exercise; warmth and a genial state of 
mind. 

5. Abundance of sleep. 

6. Pleasant social surroundings at the table. 

7. Thorough mastication. 

8. Kegularity in eating, and proper intervals between 
meals. 



PART IL 



CHAPTER I 

RECEIPTS AND GENERAL DIRECTIONS. 

WHOEVER would be a good cook must give the mind 
to it. Fruits, grains, and vegetables will not walk 
into the kitchen and cook themselves. Troublesome as it is, 
cooking is an art that requires a good brain, education in the 
art, and love for it. With these qualifications a good repast 
may be made with few materials; without them the best 
kitchen in the world, and the most completely stocked larder 
are of little avail. 

All the knowledge that science can give should be hers. 
A friend of mine believes that good cooks magnetize the 
food they prepare, impart to it wonderful virtues it did not 
before possess. There is no doubt of this. A good cook 
can transform the raw material of food at will into delicacies 
that are both healthful and nourishing. 

THE KITCHEN. 

2. Another requirement for cooking is a good kitchen. It 
should be light, well ventilated, cheerful; pretty pictures 
should adorn the wall, and comfort reign. Water should be 
convenient ; wood, good and abundant ; and the utensils, 
such as stove or range and all other apparatus, good in 
quality and properly kept. 

MATERIAL. 

3. The raw material should be of the very best. No 
mouldy flour, stale vegetables, and diseased meats should 
ever find their way to the kitchen. Nothing but the best 
should be provided, and that should be in proper variety and 
in abundance. 



44 EECBIPTS AND GENERAL DIRECTIONS. 

ORDER. 

4. Cleanliness and order should prevail throughout the 
domain of the kitchen. 

SIMPLICITY. 

5. Mr. William Horrel says, " Simplicity is a virtue which 
has almost grown out of fashion, especially in relation to 
food and cooking. You can scarcely sit down anywhere to 
a good plain meal, and find everything simple. Even our 
dietetic reformers have much to learn in this respect, before 
the full amount of the good their system contains can be 
enjoyed by them. All that pertains to the science of cooking, 
on physiological principles, is easily accomplished. The 
real object of cooking should be to increase the quantity, 
and improve the quality of food ; to render it more economi- 
cal and physiological. This is best accomplished by simplicity. 
It saves money, time, and health. Variety may still be kept 
up to almost any extent, without complexity, by taking one 
kind one day, or at one meal, and another on the next day." 



CHAPTER 11. 

CHOICE TEEATMENT OF FOODS. 

IN the choice of foods we cannot exercise too mucTi care. 
It is cheaper to procure only the very best articles. All 
vegetables and fruits should be grown on the best soils, and 
the fertilizers used should be well decomposed and not fresh 
and rank. Partially decayed food of whatever kind, should 
be avoided. For breads, the best white wheat is none too 
good. If grown in new soil it is likely to be better and to 
contain abundance of the mineral matter so needful to 
health. Fruits for eating without cooking should be ripe, 
tender and not too tart; while those for cooking may be 
either sweet or sour, but they must possess the peculiar 
quality of retaining when cooked their best flavors. All 
woody fibres must be removed from fruits and vegetables be- 
fore eating. Potatoes should be fresh and ripe — old ones are 
less wholesome, especially when they have been exposed to 
the light and air, and bruised by much handling, or long 
exposed to the cold. 

Animal food should be chosen with gi-eat caution. Only 
healthy animals should be used for eating. They should 
neither be too old nor too young, too fat nor too lean. In 
butchering, all the blood should be removed from the body, 
as otherwise the fleshputrefies readily. It should be thorough- 
ly cooled before eating. It is also desirable that the animal 
be not killed for several hours after eating or after fiitigue. 
The long journeys animals are sent on crowded, filthy cars, 
render their flesh unwholesome. They ought to be butchered 
far away from the city and the meat transported in refriger- 
ator cars, for city use. 



46 CHOICE TREATMENT OF FOODS. 

The treatment of animal food is a matter of importance. 
Why do we cook it at all ? First, to render it more pleasing 
to the sight ; second, to develope its best flavors ; and third 
to render it digestible and palatable. Flesh cooked too 
much is rendered innutritions and indigestible ; if cooked too 
little, it is disagreeable eating. The albumen of flesh coagu- 
lates at 133° F., and the coloring matter is coagulated and 
destroyed at about 170° F., says Liebig, and he would never 
have flesh subjected to a higher temperature than this, 
except for a few minutes after it is put into the pot, when it 
may be submitted to a temperature of boiling water in order 
to coagulate the albumen into a sort of crust on the outside 
to hold in the flavors that might otherwise be evaporated. 
In roasting meat, also, let the heat at first be high, and 
gradually decreased to the boiling point for the same reason. 

Stewed meats are more wholesome and nutritious than 
any other. The process renders flesh tender and succulent 
and easy of digestion. Letheby says, " all kinds of tongue 
and strong flavored meats may be cooked with advantage in 
this manner. The process is, moreover, susceptible of very 
delicate treatment of flavorless foods." 



RECIPES. 



SOUPS. 

Soups are often complicated and expensive, requiring much money, 
time, and attention to prepare tliem. These difficulties are avoided in 
the following recipes, and a few trials will enable any one of ordinary 
understanding, who will follow the directions, to produce cheap, 
wholesome, and agreeable soups, without shins, knuckles, scrags, 
bacon, or drippings. 

Split Pea Soup. — Put one pint of split peas, which have been 
previously soaked in cold water four hours, into two quarts of pure 
soft water. Let them boil for one hour, then add one carrot, one par- 
snip, one turnip, two onions, a small head of celery, and a little mint, 
all cut small, and boil the whole another liour. Strain the soup from 
the vegetables, and thicken it with a little Indian meal, previously 
mixed in cold water ; boil the whole for ten minutes more, and serve 
in a tureen with toasted or plain wheat-meal bread. Mix the vege- 
tables well, and put them into a mould or a basin, and then into a 
vegetable-dish, and serve it with steamed or baked potatoes. Salt 
moderately. 

Bean Soup. — Wash and pick over one pint of white beans ; steep 
them twenty-four hours in pure soft water, put them into a stew-pan 
(earthen and enameled is best), set them on the fire in two quarts of 
water, let them boil for two hours, then add two onions, one parsnip, 
one carrot, a little parsley and thyme cut small, a little cold boiled 
rice, and a little salt. Boil the whole gently for another hour, and 
serve it the same as pea soup. Salt to taste. 

Barley and Bread Soup. — Take three ounces of barley, one and a 
half ounces of stale bread-crumbs, one and a half ounces of butter, 
one-half ounce of salt, and one-quarter ounce of parsley. Wash and 
steep the barley for twelve hours, in one-half pint of water, to which 
a piece of carbonate of soda, the size of a pea, has been added ; then 
pour off the water not absorbed, and add the crumbs of stale bread, 
three quarts of boiling water, and the salt. Digest these in a salt- 
glazed covered jar, in the oven, or boil them slowly in a well-tinned 
covered pan, for from four to six hours, adding the chopped parsley, 
with the butter, thirty minutes before the expiration of the time of 
boiling. 



48 RECIPES. 

Bkown Soup. — One pound of turnips, one pound of carrots, half a 
pound and six ounces of onions, one and a half pints of peas, four 
ounces of butter, and half a pound of bread. Cut the vegetables into 
small pieces, put them in a pan with the butter, cover the pan, and let 
them stew over the fire till brown, occasionally stirring them ; put in 
the peas with the water in which they were boiled ; add sufficient 
boiling water to make three quarts altogether ; next add the bread, 
which should be browned or toasted before the fire, but not burnt ; 
season, and let the soup boil gently for three or four hours ; rub it 
through a coarse sieve, return it into the pan ; let it boil, and it will be 
ready to serve. If dried peas are used, they should be steeped for 
twenty-four hours in soft water, and boiled for two hours. 

Barley Soup. — Three ounces of barley, one and a half ounces of 
stale bread crumbs, one ounce of butter, quarter of an ounce of chop- 
ped parsley, and half an ounce of salt. Wash, and steep the barley 
for twelve hours in half a pint of water, to which a piece of soda, the 
size of a pea, has been added ; pour oii the water that is not absorbed ; 
add the bread crumbs, three quarts of boiling water, and the salt ; boil 
slowly in a well-tinned covered pan for four or five hours, and add the 
parsley and butter about half an hour before the soup is ready to be 
served. 

Celery Soup. — Six roots of celery, one large turnip, two ounces 
of onions, four ounces of bread crumbs, one ounce of butter, one des- 
sert-spoonful of flour, and half a pint of cream. Strip oif all the green 
part of the celery, using only the white ; cut it in shreds, reserving 
the inside of three of the roots to be added afterward ; slice the turnip 
and onion, and put them with the celery into a pan ; add two quarts 
of water, the bread crumbs, and a little salt ; let all boil till the vege- 
tables are perfectly soft ; rub through a sieve ; return it to the pan ; 
add the celery (previously boiled till quite soft), the butter, and flour, 
well mixed ; stir it, seasoning it with a little mace ; and, after boiling 
a quarter of an hour, stir in the cream, but do not allow it to boil 
afterward. 

Browning for Soups. — Three large spoonfuls of brown sugar ; 
one half pint of boiling water. Put the sugar into a frying-pan, set it 
on the fire to brown, stirring it with a wooden spoon, that it may not 
burn. When sufficiently dark-colored, stir into in the boiling water ; 
when thoroughly mixed put it into a bottle ; and, when cold, cork it 
closely down, and use a tablespoonful or more, as may be required, to 
give a color to your soup. A burnt onion or two can be made of use 
for the purpose of browning, and is often considered better than the 
above recipe. 

Note. — For the convenience of those who have not an opportunity of wei<2:hing 
the ingredients for the soups, it may be stated that one large tablespoonful will be 
about equal to one ounce, and one teasponf ul to a quarter of an ounce. But weigh- 
ing should be resorted to whenever it is possible. 

Potato Soup. — One quart of potatoes, pared and cut into small 
strips or blocks, a large sprig of parsley, the same of thyme or sweet 
marjoram, cut fine ; boil three-fourths of an hour in three quarts of 



RECIPES. 49 

water, then add half a pint of cream or new milk ; put a small table- 
spoonful of butter into a plate where it will soften, and stir into it 
two spoonsful of Hour, add to the soup, and boil five minutes. Drop- 
dumplings made with a little iiour and cream, yeast and milk are an 
addition. 

Green-Pea Soup. — Take two quarts of green-peas, one small 
onion, and a sprig of parsley cut fine ; add two quarts of hot water, 
and boil slowly for half an hour, then add a pint of small new potatoes 
which have been peeled and laid in cold water an hour ; put in a table- 
spoonful of sugar and a little salt, boil till the potatoes are done, now 
add a teacupfuL of cream or a piut of milk, boil a minute or two, 
and serve with small slices of toasted bread or gems cut in halves. 

Tomato Soup — Take two quarts of fresh, round tomatoes, scald 
and peel, without breaking ; do not cut or fork them. Put into a 
porcelain kettle, or fire-proven stone vessel, add two quarts of boiling 
water, and a teaspoonful of salt, and set on the fire or in the oven, 
cover, and let them stew slowly three quarters of an hour. Mix two 
tablespoonsf ul of flour with a tablespoonful of butter, or a teacupful 
of good cream, which has been boiled, stir into the soup, and let it boil 
together ten minutes, and dish up with small thin slices of well-toast- 
ed bread. Be careful to let the tomatoes remain whole, as you would 
oysters. 

A teacupful of grated corn added to the soup when you put in the 
flour, etc., will be an excellent addition, and render the imitation of 
oyster soup more complete. Simmer the corn only ten minutes, if it is 
fresh and full of milk. 

Note. — We give you only one or two meat sonps, and theee with special refer- 
ence to tomatoes, Meat soups are well known in almost endless varieties, but good 
vegetable soups are scarce. 

Beef and Tomato Soup. — Take two pounds of red beef — a neck 
piece, or from the round ; carefully remove all the fat, and cut the 
meat into small bits ; put into a stewpan with two quarts of cold 
water, and simmer slowly one hour. Remove all the scum as soon as 
it rises, and keep covered close. Scald until quite soft, one quart of 
nice ripe tomatoes, and press through a colander ; add to the broth 
from which you have removed the meat, and boil half an hour ; put 
in a sprig of sweet marjoram or thyme, then take two ears of swee- 
corn, and cut and scrape all the kernels from the cob, also two table 
spoonsful of flour and one of sugar, browned but not burned, mix with 
half a teacupful sweet cream or milk ; add these ingredients and boil 
fifteen minutes. Season with a little salt and cayenne pepper. 

Note. — You will observe that all the inj^redients of this soup require but little 
actual cooking. The pure nutriment of beef is found with rare cooking. Tomatoes 
lose their fine flavor by much boilinir, and corn hardens at a certain period — fifteen 
or twenty minutes, if it is fresh and full of miik, is sufHcient to cook corn. 

Another. — Make a §oup of bones or bits of meat left from a roast, 
add a little cabbage, sweet potato, and parsley cut fine, boil till well, 
done, then cut or grate a pint of green corn and half a dozen fresh 



50 EECIPES. 

tomatoes, boil these with the soup fifteen or twenty minutes, and 
serve. 

Note — Remove all the fat from the meat before putting it into the water, and 
ekim off what remains as soon as it rises. This is far more wholesome and relish- 
able than stock prepared some days beforehand. Stale meats are the same, even in 
Boup. 

Vermicelli Sotjp. — Six ounces of vermicelli, two quarts of new 
milk, the yolks of four eggs, and one pint of cream. Blanch the ver- 
micelli by setting it on the fire in cold water ; when it boils, drain off 
the water, and put it into cold water ; let it remain a few minutes, and 
then drain the water entirely from it ; put it into a pan with the milk, 
and boil it ; beat up the yolks of the eggs, and after gradually adding 
a pint of boiled cream, strain through a sieve. Take off the pan ; add 
the eggs, cream, a small lump of white sugar, and a tea-spoonful of 
salt, and stir the soup on the fire till near boiling. 

Barley Broth. — Four ounces of Scotch barley, four ounces of 
onions, four ounces of oat-meal, or Indian meal, and two ounces of 
butter. After washing the barley well, steep it in fresh water for 
twelve hours ; set it on the fire in two quarts of water, adding the 
onions and a little salt, and boil gently for an hour and a quarter. 
Melt the butter in a saucepan ; stir in the meal till it becomes a paste ; 
then add a little of the broth gradually, till it is a projier thickness to 
mix with the whole quantity ; stir well together till it boils, and mix 
with a little of the broth a drachm of celery seed, pounded ; stir well 
in the broth ; isimmer it gently a quarter of an hour longer, and serve. 

PORRIDGES. 

Wheat-meal Porridge. — Having boiled one quart of soft water, 
and mixed half a pound of meal in a little cold water, mix them to- 
gether, and boil for fifteen minutes, stirring it occasionally. Pour it 
into basins and let it stand for ten minutes. To be eaten with fruit, 
sugar or molasses, and bread. 

Indian-meal Porridge. — Make same as the wheat-meal porridge, 
only that it must be cooked for nearly an hour, and be made thinner, 
to allow for the evaporation which comes from the boiling. 

Indian Farina Porridge.— To one pint of boiling water add four 
tablespoonful of farina ; mix and serve the same as the wheat-meal 
porridge. 

Arrowroot Porridge. — Mix one ounce of prepared arrowroot with 
a tablespoonsful of cold water, then pour boiling water on it to make it 
the required thickness, stirring it well at the same time. A slice or 
tM'o of lemon with a little sugar will be found an improvement. To 
be eaten with crackers or bread. 

Boiled Wheat Porridge. — Having soaked over night one pound 
of good wheat in pure soft water, strain the water off and add a quart 
of fresh ; stew it gently till quite soft. It may be eaten as wheat-meal 
porridge. 



RECIPES. 51 

Sago Porridge. — Four tablespoonsful of sago, one salt-spoonfuls of 
salt, and one quart of water. Soak the sago in cold water for a few 
minutes, and boil it gently about an hour, adding the salt; pour it into 
eoup-plates, and serve with molasses or sugar. 

Sago and Rice Porridge. — Equal quantities of sago and ground 
rice. Proceed as with sago porridge. 

Milk Porridge. — Take of new milk a pint and a half, and half a 
pint of water ; place it over the fire. When just ready to boil, stir in a 
tablespnonful of flour, wheat-meal, oat-meal, or Indian corn-meal, pre- 
viously mixed with a little water; after boiling a minute pour it on 
bread cut into small pieces. As milk burns quicker than almost any 
other article of food, it is always best to put it into a tin pail or fa- 
rina kettle, which is or can be surrounded by boiling water while heat- 
ing, then you are sure of not burning it. 

Arrowroot Gruel. — Take one ounce of arrowroot, and two large 
tablespoonsful of preserved black currants. Put the currants into a 
pan with a quart of water; cover the pan and let them stew gently 
about half an hour ; then strain the liquid and set it on the fire; when 
boiling pour it gradually upon the arrowroot, previously mixed with a 
little cold water, stirring it well; return it into the pan and let it boil 
for a few minutes gently, adding sugar if required. 

Sago Gruel. — Take two tablespoonsful of sago and one quart of 
water. Wash and soak the sago a few minutes in cold water; stir it 
into the rest of the water when boiling; boil slowly till the sago is 
well done, and add sugar and nutmeg as required. 

Tapioca Gruel. — Wash a tablespoonful of tapioca and soak it in a 
pint and a half of water twenty minutes; then boil gently, stirring 
frequently, till it is sufficiently cooked, and sweeten. 

Groat Gruel. — Pick the groats very clean and steep them in water 
for several hours ; then boil them in soft water till quite tender and 
thick, and add boiling water sufficient to reduce the whole to the con- 
sistency of gruel, also currants, sugar, and grated nutmeg. Groats are 
made of oats' grain, the hulls being removed and the grain left quite 
whole, as are all preparations of this grain. This gruel is very nutri- 
tious. 

REMARKS AND RULES FOR GOOD BREAD. 

With good flour, a good oven, and a good, sensible, interested cook, 
we can be pretty sure of good, wholesome bread. Yeast bread is con- 
sidered the standard bread, and is, perhaps, more generally found on 
every table than any other kind. Hence it is important to know how 
to make good, sweet, wholesome, yeast bread. Good flour is the first 
indispensable, then good, lively yeast, either yeast cakes or bottled, 
the former is preferable in all respects. Then, of course, there must 
be the proper materials to work with. A bread bowl or pan — the pan 
is easiest kept clean — a stone or earthen jar for setting the sponge; a 
eieve — flour should always be sifted before making bread of any kind, 



6^ EECIPES. 

first, to be sure that it is perfectly clean, secondly, sifting enlivens and 
aerates the flour, and makes both mixing and rising easier and quicker; 
a clean, Avhite cloth to cover the dough, and a woollen blanket to keep 
the dough of even temperature while rising; baking pans, deep and 
shallow, a large, strong spoon for stirring, and a little melted suet or 
fresh butter for oiling the pans ; never use poor batter. If you want 
shortening, rich milk or cream scalded and cooled will answer the pur- 
pose and be most wholesome. But thorough kneading is better still, 
and should always be done efEectually. Scalding a portion of the flour 
makes a sweeter bread and speeds the work. Water, milk, or butter — 
milk may be poured boiling hot on a quart or two of the flour, stirring 
well, and cooling to a moderate temperature before adding the yeast — 
this makes the sponge. Scalded flour always makes a little darker 
bread, unless we use buttermilk, which makes a rich, creamy, white 
bread. Yeast is fermented flour or meal— the first stages of decompo- 
sition or decay. Understanding this, every baker will comprehend the 
necessity of regulating the extent of the fermentation with the great- 
est care: for a sponge or bread fermented or " raised " too long, is de- 
composing, spoiling — actually rotting 1 This is the language of an ex- 
perienced English baker to us only a few days ago, during a talk about 
the delicate, foamy loaves " yeasted to death," which so many families 
are eating and calling " the stafE of life," quite discarding the firm, 
sweet, substantial, home-made loaf which oar mothers and grand- 
mothers kneaded with their own skilled hands. Bi-ead-making should 
stand at the head of domestic accomplishments : since the health and 
happiness of the family depends incalculably upon good bread ; and 
there comes a time in every true, thoughtful woman's experience when 
she is glad she can make nice, sweet loaves, free from soda, alum, and 
other injurious ingredients, or an earnest regret that she neglected 
or was so unfortunate as not to have been taught at least what are the 
requisites of good bread-making. 

Yeast. — Dry yeast or yeast cakes are more convenient and less liable 
to taste in the bread tlian bakers' yeast. Two or three times a year 
there should be a fresh supply of yeast cakes prepared and carefully 
put in a dry place. Yeast cakes are manufactured and sold, some of 
which are very reliable. To make dry yeast, steep for half an hour a 
handful of fresh hops in a quart of boiling water. Sift two quarts of 
flour in an earthen or stone pan, and strain into the flour the boiling 
hop tea. Stir well and let it cool, when lukewarm add a cent's worth, 
of baker's yeast or a cupful of good home-made yeast, and put in a 
tablespoouf ul of brown sugar, a tablespoonful of ginger, a teaspoonful 
of salt, mix thoroughly and let it rise. It is best to prepare this sponge 
over night, and early in the morning it will be rounded up and light, 
and give you all day, which should be sunny and breezy, to make and 
dry the yeast cakes. Now mix into the sponge as much good corn 
meal as will make a stiff, firm dough, knead it well and make it into a 
long, round roll three or four inches in diameter. Cut it into slices 
half an inch thick, spread a clean cloth or clean paper on a board and 
lay the cakes on and put into a light, airy place to dry. Turn them 
several times during the day, and speed the drying as fast as possible, 
as the fermentation goes oc while they remain moist. When dry put 



RECIPES. 53 

into a bag made of firm linen or cotton, tie close, and liang liigh and 
dry. 

Bread with Scalded Sponge. — Set your sponge the last thing at 
night, thus : put one yeast cake to soften in a half cup of warm water, 
sift two quarts of flour into a bowl or pan that will hold four quarts, 
scald the flour with a sufficient quantity of boiling water to moisten it 
all. Stir very thoroughly till it is free from lumps and cool enough to 
put in the yeast cake, add the yeast, and set to rise in a warm place in 
winter, or in a cool place in summer. In the morning before breakfast 
the sponge will be risen round and foamy, and should be made imme- 
diately into dough. Sift as much flour as you need into your bread 
bowl or pan, and in cold weather to warm the flour will gain you time 
and credit. If you wish to make a Graham loaf or two, save one-third 
of the sponge for that, and mis the rest into the sifted and warmed 
flour, add a pint of \\...'in water, or sufficient to make the flour into a 
lirni dough, and knead until smooth and free from the board and hands. 
Put the dough back into the bread pan, cover with a clean cloth, and 
%vrap a warmed blanket over the whole to keep from the air. The 
more muffled you wrap it the sooner the bread will rise. If the tem- 
perature has been just right, the bread will be ready to mold into the 
baking tins in less than two hours. Have the pans cleaned and greased; 
divide the dough into loaves which will two-thirds fill the pan, knead 
lightly with a little flour on the board, but use no more than you can 
help. Cover slightly and let it rise again till the loaf looks as large as 
it should be. Now the oven should be hot, with a firm steady fire, 
which will last three quarters of an hour ; fresh fuel ought not to be 
added till the bread is finished. Every cook should know just what 
her oven will do, and be governed accordingly ; if too hot at the bottom 
Bet the pan up an inch, if too hot at the top cover the loaf with brown 
paper, open the oven as little as possible. When baked, remove the 
loaf at once from the pan and put to cool on a rack, or resting it on 
one edge. Never cover or allow bread to sweat in the baking tins, the 
crusts will soften as they cool. Good flour and properly made bread 
will not have hard crusts. When cold, wrap the bread in the bread 
cloth and put into a tray or into a clean tin boiler, cover, but not air- 
tight. Bread thus made will be good and fresh for several days. 

Remark. — The keen fermenting odor which starts up when the 
dough is ready for the second kneading is not sour, nor does it need 
Boda. Soda kills the lively quality of yeast. 

Yeast Graham Bread. — Take the remainder of the white flour 
sponge, a tablespoonful of sugar, and three pints of warm water ; mis 
with them Graham flour into as stiff a dough as you can stir well with 
a large spoon. Beat it up thoroughly for ten minutes, or, if you can- 
not manage the spoon, dip the hand into water, and work the dough 
till it is very smooth. Let it rise two hours, then stir it up and put it 
into deep baking-tins, and let it stand till it begins to rise again. Bake 
in a quick oven one hour. Graham flour ferments quicker than fine 
flour, and should not be allowed to rise so long. If, when the bread is 
cold, it seems too soft, remember, the next time, to mis the dough a 



54 BECIPES. 

little stiffer. The precise consistency cannot be guessed always, as 
Bonje wheat works softer than others. The sweetening can be left out 
with proi:)riety. Indeed, we never could see why Graham flour should 
be sweetened at all, as it has all the sugar of the grain left in, while 
fine flour has had the sugar taken out by the process of bolting. 

Bread with Potatoes. — Potatoes assist fermentation, and render 
the dough lighter and more tender when we wish to make bread in 
haste. Peel and boil, or steam, a quart of potatoes, mash them very 
fine, or, what is better, press them through a colander while they are 
hot, add half a pint of water and a salt-spoonful of salt, stir them into 
a batter, and then put in a yeast cake previously softened, or a teacup- 
ful of lively yeast, and make into a dough with two quarts of sifted 
flour. Knead it half an hour, put plenty of flour on your board, and 
kuead it until it cleaves from the board with a light tearing sound. 
Be careful not to let your dough grow very cold while you work it. 
Divide into loaves, and set to rise in a warm place. Watch the pro- 
cess, and when the loaves are quite light have your oven in good heat 
and bake three quarters of an hour. This bread is very nice if well 
made, i. e., the potatoes made very fine and kept hot, and perhaps the 
flour warmed also ; but it is not so good when stale as that made with 
a scalded sponge. 

Delicious Biscuit. — Made in the same manner, only adding half a 
pint of sour cream instead of the water. Bring the cream to a scald- 
ing heat, and put in a teaspoonful of soda ; mix otherwise the same. 
Set to rise in the bowl, and, when light, make into small cakes. Put 
them close in the pan, and let them rise uptoard within an inch of the 
top of the pan and bake. 

Buttermilk Bread. — Put three or four pints of fresJi buttermilk 
into a saucepan and boil it. Stir it pretty constantly while it is heat- 
ing, to keep it from separating into whey and curd. Have a quart of 
flour sifted into a suitable vessel, pour the boiling buttermilk on the 
flour, and scald it thoroughly. Stir until all the flour is mixed, and 
set to cool. When sufficiently cool add a teacupf ul of good yeast, and 
let it rise over night ; in the morning sift and mix into the sponge 
enough flour to make a stiff dough ; knead well, and set to rise for 
two hours, then divide into loaves and knead slightly. At this time 
use as little flour as possible. Set to rise again, and bake as soon as 
light enough. Bake in a steady oven three quarters of an hour. This 
is a good sponge for dark, or runny flour. The bread will be white 
and moist. Graham flour, prepared with scalded buttermilk, mixed a 
little stift'er than where sweet milk or water is used, is very sweet and 
good. Do not put soda into the milk or sponge. It will be perfectly 
sweet when it is baked if the yeast is fresh, and if the whole process 
is carefully attended to in the right time. 

Sweet Potato Buns. — Boil, and then mash three good-sized sweet 
potatoes with a pint of cream or new milk ; mix with as much flour as 
will make a dough as for bread, adding a teacupful of good sponge or 
yeast. Knead well, and set to rise. Always wrap your blanket close 
around the bowl, and place where the wind or cold air does not come, 



BECIPES. 55 

if you wish a quick rising. As soon as the dough begins to crack 
open mould into small rolls and put close together in the baking-pan. 
When sufficiently light bake in a moderate oven half an hour. 

Graham Muffins.— Dissolve a half cake of yeast in a little warm 
water, scald a quart of milk and pour it into two quarts of Graham 
flour, stir Avell, and let it cool sufficiently, then put in the yeast and a 
spoonful of brown sugar, make a very thick batter, which will ht^ap 
on the spoon ; set to rise over night. In the morning have a good hot 
oven, butter your rings and the pan well with cold butter, fill the 
rings two-thirds full, let them stand a few minutes in a warm place, 
then put into the brisk oven and bake half an hour. 

Bread Muffins. — Take four slices of baker's bread, and cut off the 
crust. Lay them in a pan, and pour boiling water over them, only 
just sufficient to soak them well. Cover the vessel with a cloth, and 
when it has stood an hour draw off the water, and stir the soaked 
bread till the mass is quite smooth, then mix in two tablespoonsful of 
sifted Hour and half a pint of milk, and stir in, gradually, two well- 
beaten eggs. Butter some muffin rings, set them in a buttered bake- 
pan, and till each two-thirds full. Bake brown, and send to the table 
hot. 

Buckwheat Cakes. — One quart of buckwheat flour and a half a 
pint of Graham meal. Mix with lukewarm water into a batter, stir in 
a teacupful of good yeast sponge or a half cent's worth of baker's 
yeast ; mix in an earthen or stone vessel, and set over night in a warm 
))lace to rise. If the temperature and yeast have been just right, the 
batter will be light and sweet, and not need soda. It should be con- 
sidered a mistake when the ferment needs neutralizing, and care 
taken to set cooler or correct the yeast. 

Buckwheat Gravy. — Buckwheat cakes are often considered rather 
an unwholesome dish ; but we think that the fault comes from the 
excess of melted butter and syrup, which is usually eaten with them. 
Substitute this, at least for the children : — Boil a pint of milk and half 
a pint of cream, put in half a teaspoonful of salt and two or three large 
spoonsful of buckwheat batter, dip a spoonful and put directly into 
the boiling milk, wait for it to boil up, and then add another till you 
get a proper consistency, boil a minute longer, and pour into a tureen 
or pitcher for the table. 

Gravies — May always take Uie place of butter and syrup when 
griddle cakes are to be eaten, simply by boiling a pint of milk or 
cream and adding a spoonful or two of the batter of which the cakes 
are made as a thickening, a little salt and a very little lump of butter 
may be added. Children are far better satisfied with a creamy gravy 
than with butter. 

Hygienic Breakfast Cakes. — One pint of fresh oatmeal, one quart 
water, let it stand over night. In the morning add one teaspoonful of 
fine salt, one tablespoonful of sugar, and the same of baking powder, 
and one pint of Graham flour. If the above proportions make a battqjr 



56 RECIPES. 

too stiff for griddle cakes, add more water. If gems are preferred in- 
stead of cakes, the addition of a little more flour is all tliat is required 
to produce an extra article. 

OatjieaIi Bread. — One quart fresh oatmeal, two quarts of water, 
let stand half a day or over night. When ready to bake, add one 
quart of fine, or Graham flour, half a cup of sugar, one teaspoonful 
fine salt, two teaspoonsful of baking powder ; mix with a spoon. No 
kneading is required. If too stiff, add water. 

Corn Cakes. — Three cups of corn meal, one cup of Graham flour, 
two teaspoonsful of cream yeast powder sifted together, one cup of 
cream, and half a cup of milk, one egg well beaten ; stir altogether 
well and quickly ; heat your gem irons hot ; butter and fill ; bake with 
a brisk heat. Gem tins or forms do not need to be heated before fill- 
ing, they may be oiled and filled on the table, and put into a quick 
oveu. 

Graham Griddle Cakes. — Into one pint of Graham flour and half 
pint Indian ineal mix thoroughly two teaspoonsful of cream yeast and 
half teaspoonful salt, beat up well one egg and mix with one pint cold 
water, into which mix thoroughly the flour as prepared, and fry at 
once. 

Gold Medal Corn Cakes. — Mix two heaping teaspoonsful of cream 
yeast and half teaspoonful of salt thoroughly through one pint of In- 
dian meal and half pint of sifted flour, beat well one egg and mix in 
one tablespoonf ul of brown sugar, half pint milk or cold water, and 
stir in the meal as jjrepared, to the consistency of a thick batter, steam 
until half done in a three pint basin, and finish by baking in a hot 
oven, or drop into hot cup or gem pans well buttered, and bake in a 
hot oven. 

Corn Gems. — Mix two heaping teaspoonsful of cream yeast and half 
teaspoonful of salt thoroughly through one and one half pound sifted In- 
dian meal ; stir the meal as prepared slowly into one pint (more or 
less) of sweet milk or cold water, so as to make a very thin batter, 
place in hot gem tins or cups, let them stand five minutes in a warm 
place and bake in a very hot oven, 

Yankee Strawberry Short Cake. — Mix two heaping teaspoonsful 
of cream yeast and half teaspoonful of salt thoroughly through one 
quart of sifted flour, beat well one egg, and mix in two tablespoousful 
melted butter, one of sugar, nearly a pint of sweet milk or cold water, 
mix in the flour as prepared, as thin as convenient to handle, knead 
but little, let stand five minutes in a warm place, bake in a quick oven ; 
cut into three layers, place sugar and strawberries between and dust 
upper crust with sugar. 

Squash Cakes. — Mix Graham floiir with half its bulk of stewed 
squash, or pumpkin, and add milk enough to make a thick batter, 
about a cup of milk to each cup of squash. Put in one teaspoonful 
cream yeast, mixing it well with the flour. Cook on a griddle. 



RECIPES. 57 

Boston Brown Bread. — Take three pints of Indian meal, sifted, 
jjd one quart of rye meal, sifted. Stir into the corn meal one tea- 
spoonful of salt and one teacup ful of molasses, and wet it to a batter, 
as thick as that used for griddle cakes, with boiling Avater ; then set it 
aside to cool. Stir one large coffeecupful of sour milk, or buttermilk, 
info the rye meal, add to it one teaspoonful of soda dissolved in two 
tablespoonsful of boiling water, and boil on the stove for two minutes, 
or until it is in a light froth. 

Mix together the corn and rye meal batter with the hand, beating it 
well. Let it stand for fifteen minutes, then turn into an iron bake 
kettle, and bake for three or four hours. This will make a large loaf 
of bread, but it is better to bake it all in one pffii, as a very thick, hard 
crust forms over the whole, and if one likes, it can be partly removed 
while hot, and eaten with milk or cream, for it makes a very palatable 
dish for bi-eakfast or supper. 

We prefer to hake brown bread, however, by steaming it in a large tin 
pudding dish for three hours, placing the tin in a kettle of boiling 
water, and not letting it boil over the top of it. Then it is put into 
the oven for another hour ; and this way of cooking it will form no 
crust that is not easily eaten, and gives the bread a delicious flavor, 
and it will remain moist for several days. When it is two or three 
days oldit is much improved by being warmed in the oven or toasted. 

Apple Bread. — Weigh one pound of fresh, juicy apples, peel, core 
and stew them to a pulp, being careful to use a porcelain kettle or a 
stone jar, placed inside an ordinary saucepan of boiling water ; other- 
wise the fruit will become discolored ; mix the pulp with two pounds 
of the best flour ; put in the same quantity of yeast you would use for 
common bread, and as much water as will make it a fine, smooth 
dough ; put into an iron pan and place it into a warm place to rise, and 
let it remain for twelve hours, at least. Form it into rather long-shaped 
loaves, and bake in a quick oven. 

Fruit Corn Cakes. — Put a pint of whortleberries in a bowl, add a 
teacupful of sugar, one pint of corn meal and a large tablespoonful of 
fine flour, wet with boiling water. Bake in cakes about one-half an 
inch thick on a griddle or in an oven twenty minutes. For nice apple 
cakes use sweet and tart apples, chopped, instead of berries. 

Oat Meal or Scotch Puffs. — One quart of sweet milk, three well- 
beaten eggs, two and a half cups of oat meal, one and a half cups of 
Graham flour, and a little salt. Use a medium-sized cup. Heat and 
oil the gem irons and bake in a quick oven. 

X Graham Flour Puffs. — One quart of sweet milk, two eggs, flour 
to make a thin batter, fill the gem cups two-thirds full, bake in a quick 
oven. 

Rice Griddle Cakes. — Cook half a teacupful of whole rice till every 
grain is dissolved and like jelly. Warm half a pint of rich milk, 
put in half a teaspoonful of salt, stir the rice into the milk till it 
Is smoothly mixed. Bent three eggs, whites and yolks separately, 
till very light, and put into the rice and milk the last thing. Bake 
on a hot greased griddle till brown and light. 



58 RECIPES. 

Indian Griddles. — Two cups of meal, one of flour, one of milk, 
one of water, one egg well beaten, two teaspoonsful of cream yeast, 
fiifted into the meal and flour. Mix and bake on hot griddles, 

Graham Gems. — You are su]5posed to have the baking irons or 
" setting " for these gems ; else we don't know what you will do. 
They are to be had of hardware dealers ; at least no kitchen is fur- 
nished without them. These gems are displacing all other kinds of 
coarse bread on our table. They can be eaten with butter or without 
butter, hot or cold, morning, noon, and night. They are as handy as 
crackers ; are just what you want for children's lunch, and to fill in 
when you are making up a picnic basket. They are not only hygienic, 
but are good in the mouth. They have an almond-like sweetness, 
and their fibre is like that of nut-meats, giving the teeth just the ex- 
ercise they crave. No taste of " emptyings." But to our receipt, 
which will not be half as long as this preamble. Put the irons in the 
oven, where they will get hot by the time you have mixed the gema. 
Then take milk and water, half and half, and stir in Graham flour, 
No. 1, till you have a batter that will " drop from the spoon and not 
run." Stir very thoroughly, the more the better. Drop into the hot 
irons and bake immediately. (If you are quick you can take the irons 
out of the oven for better convenience in filling.) The oven is a grand 
point. It should have a solid heat, and bake as fast as it can and not 
burn. "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again." Make the bat- 
ter a little thicker or thinner, the oven a little slower or quicker 
(quicker more likely). There is a way, and you will find it, and then 
be able to repeat your success as often as you wish. 

Wheat Meal Unleavened Cakes (Gems). — To one quart of soft, 
cold water, add, by degrees, three pints of coai-sely ground wheat 
meal. Stir rapidly, with a large spoon, three or four minutes, so as to 
incorporate a large amount of atmosphere. Dip out into iron baking 
molds, which have been heated hot and oiled. Bake immediately in 
an oven as hot as it can be and not burn, for twenty or twenty-five 
minutes. Diminish the heat after fifteen minutes. Iron molds are 
better than tin. The small size, about three inches in length, and one 
and a half in width, is better than the larger sizes. The proportions 
of water and meal in this formula are for white wheat. For red wheat 
a little more meal is necessary. One-sixth corn meal is an improve- 
ment, in which case it needs a heaping measure of meal to the water. 

Oat Meal and Graham Gems. — Mix equal parts of fine Irish oat 
meal and Graham flour into a thick batter with milk and water equal 
parts, fill hot gem irons and bake with a brisk heat. Very sweet and 
tender. 

Wheat Meal Eolls. — Pour boiling water on unbolted wheat 
meal, stirring rapidly with a strong spoon or stick. The dough 
ehould be scarcely stiff enough to retain its shape. Of this take por- 
tions about the size of a hen's egg, and roll it into a round form three 
or four inches in length ; a plenty of dry flour to prevent sticking. 
Bake at once. The coating of flour also prevents the escape of air 



SECIPES. 59 

from the dough, as the sudden heat of baking expands it, thus making 
the rolls much lighter. Let bake in a very hot oven. 

Snow Cakes or Bread. — First cool a wooden bowl, in this put 
the desired quantity of corn or unbolted wheat meal, mix with this 
twice or three times as much snow. It now appears like dry meal. 
Put some on a hot griddle ; if too dry to turn well add more snow; if 
too wet to be light add more meal ; when just right bake the same as 
batter cakes, or put it in a pan, about two inches deep — rounding it 
from the edge — and bake in a quick oven twenty minutes. 

Corn Cakes. — Pour hot water on to corn meal to make a stiff bat- 
ter; let it stand over night. In the morning- add milk to thin it, then 
stir in Graham flour, in which is a little baking powder, until it is the 
right consistence for baking. Bake in gem pans, and they will be 
light and nice, with a very small proportion of yeast powder. 

Corn Meal Breakfast Cake. — For two baking tins take one and 
a half pints of coarsely ground corn meal. Add water nearly boiling, 
but not enough to wet quite all of the corn meal ; add cold water, a 
little at a time, stirring thoroughly between whiles, until you have it 
BO thin that it has a tendency to settle as you pour it into your pie 
tins. It should not be more than half an inch deep in the tins, and it 
should bake quickly in a hot oven. 

Corn Cake, "with Fruit. — Pour one quart boiling water on one 
quart corn meal, and stir quickly. Wet the hands, and form the 
dough into small round cakes one-half an inch thick. Bake in a hot 
oven. The addition of a few raspberries, huckleberries, or any other 
Bub-acid fruit, is a decided improvement. Sweet apples, chopped 
fine, are also excellent. 

Corn and Rye Biscuits. — Pour boiling water on coarse yellow 
corn meal, and stir to the consistency of a thick batter. Immediately 
add coarse rye meal to make into a very soft dough ; form into small, 
flat biscuits (fifteen to a baking pan) with the hands frequently wet in 
cold water, and bake immediately in a hot oven. They are very nice 
for variety, and are best made of equal parts of corn and rye. Bake 
thirty minutes or more. 

Wheat Me.Uj Crisps — Wet unbolted wheat meal with boiling 
water, and form a stiff dough. Grease, or sprinkle flour on a nice 
sheet of iron — the bottom of a smooth sheet-iron pan would answer — 
on this roll out the dough as thin as possible, mark into convenient 
squares, and bake in a slow oven. When rightly baked they will not 
curl or blister. Invalids with the poorest teeth, whose state of health 
may require dry food, can eat them. 

Wheat Meal Biscuits. — Pour boiling soft water upon coarse 
white-wheat meal, stir with a spoon to a dough as soft as it can be 
managed, by the exercise of skill, upon a molding board. Roll to an 
inch in thickness, cut with a biscuit cutter, prick and bake immedi- 
ately in an oven hotter than is necessary for the two preceding. It 



60 " RECIPES. 

will take half an hour to bake. If made of red wheat it must be 
stiffer and baked longer. 

Good Unleavened Bread. — Take half the flour you intend using, 
and pour on boiling milk (be sure it boils) ; have it about the consist- 
ency of batter that you would have for making pancakes ; let this 
stand till cool enough to work ; then knead in the rest of your flour, 
just sufliciently stifE to mold on a board. One hour in a middling hot 
oven is sufficient for baking. 

De. Jenkins's GhRAHAM Crackers.— Procure the whitest and 
cleanest wheat (Canada wheat is best), have the crackers made by a 
baker. Mix with nothing but pure, soft water, and thoroughly re- 
duce the mass in a baker's break, as for making other crackers. Have 
them rolled very thin, no more than half as thick as soda crackers, cut 
in the form and the size of soda crackers, and bake quickly until a pale 
yellow. These will keep six months if placed in a dry, cool, swfcet 
store room. They are fresher and more tender to place them in & dot 
oven a few moments before bringing them to the table. 

Graham Crackers. — Wet the best of Graham flour with cold 
milk, adding about a fifth proportion of thick cream, or a little butter 
if cream is not to be had. Mix as soft as can be handled ; knead very 
thoroughly, say fifteen or twenty minutes ; roll thin ; cut ia three- 
inch-square cards ; lay, so they will not touch each other, on a hot 
sheet-iron pan, and bake quickly, say ten to fifteen or twenty minutes, 
according to thickness. Handle carefully while hot, and pack away, 
when cold, in tin cans or stone jars in a cool, dry place. 

Apple-Corn Pone. — Pare and chop fine a quart of sweet apples. 
Scald a quart of corn meal with a pint of boiling water ; add new 
milk enough to make a stiff batter, then stir in the apples. Bake 
slowly in a close vessel three hours. Butter the dish well. This is 
very nice, boiled the same length of time in a pudding-mold or bag. 
But it is never so good as when baked in an old-fashioned kettle with 
a close-fitting lid, with live coals from the fire heaped on top and 
under the kettle. The thick brown crusts are delicious, with cream or 
milk. 

Steamed Brown Bread. — One quart of rye meal, one pint of Indian 
meal, one cup of molasses, one teaspoonful of sifted cream yeast stirred 
in the molasses, a little salt. Stir soft with cold water, steam three 
hours, and dry off in the oveo fifteen minutes. 

Brown Bread. — The sweetest bread ever made. — Take three 
pints of coarse yellow corn meal, scald it with three pints and a half 
of boiling water, add two pints of coarse rye meal after the corn has 
cooled. Knead thoroughly with the hands. Take it out into a stone- 
ware crock, or pot, which is a little larger at the top. The quantity here 
given will take a vessel which holds five or six quarts. Place it imme- 
diately in the oven after smoothing over the top Avith a spoon fre- 
quently dipped in cold water. Cover with a stone or iron plate, and 
have but little heat in the oven. It should take three hours to begin 
to bake, then bake slowly four hours. Leave the loaf in until the 



RECIPE^. 61 

oven cools off, if it is several hours longer. It should be dark-colored, 
light and firm, with a good soft crust. A round-bottomed iron kettle 
will do to bake in. Try it. 

Yankee Brown Bread. — Take equal quantities of rye and corn 
meal, and mix with water, making a dough that can be kneaded. 
Work with the hands until it loses its stickiness, and will readily 
cleave from the fingers. Let it stand several hours, or over night, and 
bake in loaves, in covered dishes, in a moderate oven, from three to 
five hours. Or, it may be steamed three h^urs, and baked one. 
Coarsely ground meal is better than fine for this kind of bread. 

Apple Brown Bread. — Work equal parts of corn and rye meal 
into stewed apples until the entire mass is tboroughly mixed, and bake 
as above. Or, thin with water to a batter, and bake on the griddle. 

How TO Make Oat Meal Cakes. — The Rural Cyclopedia, pub- 
lished at Edinburgh, Scotland, gives the following receipt for making 
oat meal cakes. Well made they are delicious. 

" As much meal as will make a sheet 24 or 30 inches in diameter 
and one-eighth of an inch in thickness, is put into a wooden basin, 
with a sufficiency of water for working the meal into a light paste. 
The meal and water are mixed by the fingers of the right hand, 
while the basin is turned constantly round by the left hand, till the 
paste is made; the paste is then turned out on a clean board, or 
table, and alternately kneaded with the knuckles of both hands, 
sprinkled with meal, gathered up, kneaded and sprinkled, and 
kneaded again and again, till it becomes a well kneaded and homo- 
geneous dough ; the dough is then flattened out with the knuckles 
into a circular cake of half an inch, or less, in thickness, and imme- 
diately afterward distended with a roller into a sheet of about one- 
eighth of an inch in thickness ; and the sheet is then pared round the 
edges and cut into three or four parts from the centre with a knife. 
The parts of the cut sheet of dough are fired, or half baked, first on 
the one side and then on the other, upon a thin circular plate of iron, 
called a griddle or girdle ; and then they are toasted, or whole 
baked, by being placed on their edge on a toaster close before the 
fire, with first the one side and then the other exposed to the heat. 
Some butter is sometimes mixed with the paste, to render the cakes 
' fresh ' and highly relishable, and occasionally a few caraway seeds 
also are added, but in the estimation of racy, unsophisticated cake- 
eaters, all such admixtures are an abomination." 

A Scotchman writing to the New York Observe}' in reference to these 
cakes and oat meal generally, says : 

"The favorite accompaniment to this is sweet milk, dipped with 
the sjioon (which has previously taken up and contains a portion of 
the porridge) out of a separate dish from the porridge." 

Oat Meal Breakfast Cakes. — This is made of No. 2 oat meal, 
with water enough to saturate it, and little or no salt. Pour it into 
a baking tin half an inch or three-quarters deep, shake it down level, 
and when this is done it should be so wet that two or three spoonsful 
of water should run freely on the surface. Put it in a quick oven 



63 ^ EECIPES. 

and bake twenty minutes. Eat warm. It will be as ligbt and tender 
as the best " Johnny cake," or else you have wet it too much or 
baked it too long. This is one of the most accommodating baked 
dishes that can be made. It will do very nicely with a little longer 
time if the oven is not quite hot. If it will not bake there at all, 
pour it into a frying pan, cover it close and set it on the top of the 
Btove, where it will even bake in fifteen minutes. 

For a hurried breakfast and a slow coal fire it is invaluable. Scarcely 
any wholesome thing in the whole bread line can be prepared more 
readily. It can be made still thinner and baked quicker. It is good 
either crisp or moist. For emergencies alone every housekeeper will 
find it convenient to be able to malve the breakfast cake. Many use 
oat meal mixed with buckwheat, wheat or corn, for griddle cakes. 
For this use I prefer it cooked first. Take, say one-half pint of the 
porridge or the mush, diffuse it in one quart of water, and add the 
wheat meal, sifting it in and stirring slowly. 

Oat Meal Cake. — Take one pint of oatmeal, and just warm water 
enough to stir up a batter like griddle cakes. Pour it into a shallow 
baking pan, and bake for twenty minutes in a hot oven. Or, if pref- 
erable, bake it in small cakes on the griddle, first putting in a hand- 
ful of wheat flour and a little more water. The cold porridge will 
also make delicious griddle cakes. 

Cream Toast. — Boil a pint and a half of cream or new milk and 
thicken with a tablespoonf ul of flour or corn starch, add a little salt. 
Toast slices of stale bread quickly, of an even brown on both sides, 
lay them in the toast dish and dip over them a plentiful supply of 
the hot thickened cream ; add another layer of toast and then more 
cream. 

Another Way. — Cut smooth slices of stale bread less than half an 
inch thick, toast a delicate brown, put the plate into the oven and 
heat it quite warm, lay the toast into the plate and pour over it cold, 
sweet cream, and the toast is ready to be eaten. For invalids and 
children with dainty appetites, this is very nice and easily digested. 
Some light fruit jelly will add to the relish and still be wholesome. 

Norwegian Oat Meal Porhidge. — Take two or three handfuls 
of meal, mixed, coarse and fine, in proportion of one-third latter to two 
of the former. Mix in a basin of cold water and pour into a pan con- 
taining about a quart of boiling water, adding a small portion of salt. 
Set on the fire, and keep stirring, adding from time to time small 
doses of meal until it boils and has acquired a proper consistency ; 
which may be known by its glutinous state, as it drops from the 
spoon. Let it simmer ten minutes, then pour into common dinner 
plates. Spoon out portions and float in new milk, adding sugar to 
taste. 

Oat Meal Cracknels. — Take the finest quality of oatmeal, and 
stir in barley water enough to wet it through ; let it stand twenty 
minutes to swell, then roll it out to a quarter of an inch in thickness, 
first flouring the board and rolling pin with wheat flour. Cut it with 
a biscuit cutter and bake in a moderately hot oven, as these cakea 



BECIPES. 63 

•will burn quickly, and only require to be of the eligbtest brown. 
They will snap easily between the fingers, and are delicious, requir- 
ing no butter to make them palatable. If put into a close jar they 
will keep for several months, lu the Highlands of Scotland they 
preserve their craclinels, or bannocks, as they call them, in the barrels 
of oatmeal for a year or so. 

Another way to'make cracknels, is to mix oatmeal to a stifE batter 
■with cold water, and let it stand several hours. Or mix with sweet 
milk and let it stand until it swells (do not let it sour), then pour it 
into bake pans and bake twenty minutes. They should be one- 
fourth of an inch thick and a light brown color when done. 

^ Oat Meal and Cocoakut Cracknels. — Oatmeal mixed with 
grated cocoanut produces a very attractive cake to both old and 
young. Take three heaping tablespoonfuls of grated cocoanut, or 
two of the prepared " dessicated " cocoanut; add to it half a pint 
"of the finest oatmeal and two heaping tablespoonfuls of sugar; stir 
it into one gill of boiling water, and mix it thoroughly together; 
turn out on the rolling board, well floured, and roll it as thin and 
cut out as for common cracknels, put a bit of citron and half a dozen 
currants into each cake, sticking them into the dough. Bake in a 
slow oven and watch carefully lest they brown a shade too deep. 
To make them crispy let them stand a day in an uncovered dish. A 
very palatable pie crust can be made from the dough of oatmeal 
cracknels by wetting it a little thinner; or in preparing it, add just 
half the measure of meal in hot water. Add no butter or lard, sim- 
ply a little salt ; roll out thin, and make the pie of cooked fruits, as 
this kind of paste bakes very quickly, and if the fruit requires cook- 
ing it would become too hard and brown. Most persons who eschew 
all kinds of pies can eat those made of oatmeal without fear or 
trembling, and they will soon learn to consider oatmeal an invalu- 
able addition to their tables. 

Onion Toast. — Boil some onions of moderate size ; change the 
water twice in boiling ; salt in the last water. When nicely done take 
out with a skimmer. Make a gravy such as you make for cream toast. 
Toast slices of bread, lay them in a dish, put the onions on the slices, 
one on a slice, and pour the gravy over both. 

NoU. — The onions will cook in half the time if you cut them into three or four 
slices before you put them into the water. 

Egg Toast. — Break the eggs carefully into water boiling hot, but 
not really boiling. Let them simmer till they are delicately cooked or 
till the yolks are covered with a white film, then take up with a skim- 
mer and lay on slices of buttered or cream toast. Salt the water in 
which the eggs are boiled, and see that it covers the eggs. Butter and 
pepper may be added on the table. 

TO COOK EGGS. 

Boiled Eggs. — Boil three minutes by the watch, and you have the 
central or yellow part soft boiled, while the white is hard, unpalatable, 
and diflficult of digestion. 



64 EKCIPES. 

Place tlie eggs in water " milk warm," or a little wanner. In four 
or five minutes pour off the water, and immediately pour on boiling 
water to cover the eggs, and in five minutes they will be cooked. 

If boiling water is poured on cold eggs in a cold dish, it will be so 
suddenly cooled that the eggs will not be cooked, but treat them as 
above directed, and you will find them thoroughly cooked, yet soft 
and palatable. 

The Queen's Omelet. — Place in the frying pan about one ounce 
of butter. Break three eggs, separately, to see they are fresh ; beat 
them up with a little chopped parsley and a pinch of pepper and salt. 
The eggs should not be beaten too much, or the white of them sepa- 
rates, and you produce a watery mixture which destroys the flavor and 
appearance of the omelet. Now the butter is melted, pour in the fry- 
ing pan the omelet mixture and stir till it begins to set or thicken, 
shake the pan occasionally, and fold over the omelet neatly into an 
oval shape, and when it is of a golden color turn quickly into a dish. 
To be able to prepare a plain omelet is to be able to prepare every 
kind of omelet. If you require a cheese omelet, introduce into the 
omelet mixture about a dessert spoonful of grated cheese, with a little 
jjepper and salt, and sometimes a few grains of cayenne pepper. In a 
sweet omelet no pepper or salt, but a little grated sugar ; and just be- 
fore the omelet is folded in the pan distribute evenly over a little jam. 
In preparing an omelet, remember five things— a clean pan ; the mix- 
ture must not be too much beaten ; the omelet must not be too 
large ; three eggs are better than six eggs, which make two omelets ; 
they should not be too much cooked ; they should be eaten immedi- 
ately, or they become tough, and more like a pancake. 

Dropped Eggs. — Have ready a saucepan of boiling water. Drop 
fresh eggs carefully into the water so as not to break the yolks. Let 
them stand where they will keep hot. but not boil, until the white 
sets. Toast slices of bread and lay in a dish, and pour over it a gill 
of hot cream with a little salt ; then take out the eggs with an egg- 
slice or tablespoon, and put on to the bread with parsley, if you 
like. 

Baked Omelet. — Boil half a pint of cream, or rich milk ; beat 
six eggs thoroughly — they will be nicer if the whites and yolks are 
beaten separately ; have a deep dish hot and buttered ; stir the beaten 
eggs, with a little salt, into the cream ; put all quickly into the dish, 
and bake from five to ten minutes, depending upon the condition of 
the oven. It should be lightly browned, and taken directly to the 
table in the dish. 

Scrambled Eggs. — Have a spider hot and buttered. Break as 
many eggs as you wish to cook into a dish, being careful not to break 
the yolks. Slip the eggs into the spider, sprinkle over a very little 
salt, and add a lump of butter the size of a nutmeg for half a dozen 
eggs, or three tablespoonfuls of rich cream. When the eggs begin to 
whiten, stir them carefully from the bottom, until cooked to suit. The 
yolks and whites should separate, though stirred together. Care 
should be taken not to have tlie spider too hot. 



RECIPES. 65 

Baked Eggs. — Take a common white dish with a smooth bottom, 
and large enough to hold the eggs you wish to cook ; do not crowd 
them. Set the dish into the oven till quite hot, then butter it ; have 
the eggs broken, and slip them carefully into the dish ; sprinkle a 
little salt over them, and put directly into a quick oven and bake 
three or five minutes. Butter and pepper may be added, if desired, 
when they are cooked. A tablespoonful of cream to two eggs, when 
they are first set to bake, is nice. 

PREPARATIONS OF CHEESE. 

Cheese and Bread Toast. — Grate half a cup of good cheese — 
use your crumbs and dry pieces — mix with it one cup of grated bread 
and the yolk of one egg, half a spoonful of butter, and three spoonfuls 
of rich cream. Add a salt spoonful of salt, and a sprinkle of cayenne 
and mustard if desired. Toast two or three slices of bread, spread the 
cheese mixture on quite thick, put into the oven a minute or two, and 
send to the table hot. Or lay on a top slice, and make a sandwich. 
Take a sharp knife and cut into four pieces. 

Cottage Cheese. — This is a farmer's dish, but should and would 
be eaten and appreciated by all classes if they knew how wholesome 
and digestible it is. Those who have plenty of milk and make butter, 
have an abundance of sour or clabbered milk daily, clean and fresh. 
Skim the cream off for the churn, and set a gallon or two of the milk 
on the stove in a milk pan, and let it gradually warm till it is luke- 
warm all through. Stir it occasionally to prevent its hardening at the 
bottom, and when it is a little warmer than new milk, and the whey 
begins to show clear around the curd, pour it all into a coarse thin 
bag, tie close, and hang up to strain. Let it hang two or three hours 
in a cool, shady place, then take from the bag and put in a covered 
dish. When preparing the rest of a meal, mix with the curd rich 
sweet cream, sugar, and nutmeg. Some prefer salt and pepper, but 
the sugar gives it the place of fruits or acids. This preparation of 
milk will often be found most salutary and wholesome for dyspeptics 
and weak inflamed stomachs. The clabber is also very nutritious and 
easily digested. 

SANDWICHES, 

Sandwiches are very useful to put in your bag or your pocket 
when you are not likely to be able to procure your usual meal. 

V Cheese Sandwiches. — Take two-thirds of good cheese, grated, 
and one-third of butter ; add a little cream ; pound all together in 
a mortar ; then spread it on slices of brown bread or gems ; lay 
another slice over each ; press them gently together, and cut in small 
square pieces. 

Egg SAr'^wiCHES. — Boil fresh eggs five minutes; put them in 
cold water, and when quite cold peel them, and after taking a little 
of the white ofE each end of the eggs, cut the remainder in four slices. 
Lay them between bread and butter. 

3* 



C6 EECIPES. 

Fried Egg Sandwiches. — Beat some eggs well ; fry them in but- 
ter as a pancake. When cold, cut in small square pieces, and lay 
them between brown bread and butter. 

Omelet Sandwiches. — Take four eggs, two tablespoonfuls of 
bread crumbs, and one half ounce of chopped parsley. After beating 
the eggs well, add the bread crumbs, then the parsley, and two table- 
spoonfuls of water. Season, and fry .it in small fritters, and when 
cold put them between brown bread and butter. 

VEGETABLES. 

All green vegetables should be as fresh as possible. Put them into 
cold water with some salt in it, for about ten minutes, to clear from 
soil or insects. If not quite fresh, let them remain in the water some 
time longer ; drain in a colander, and put them into a pan with plenty 
of boiling water, adding salt, and a small piece of soda ; cover the pan 
till boiling, but not afterward ; then boil quickly, and carefully remove 
any scum which may rise. Do not allow them to remain in the water 
after they are done, but immediately drain them in a colander, and 
finish each kind, as directed in recipes. Peas and spinach do not re- 
quire so much water as most other green vegetables, but only just suf- 
ficient to cover them. Cauliflowers and brocoli require especial care in 
boiling, as the flower is easily broken and their appearance spoiled ; 
boil them quickly for a few minutes, and then moderately till tender, 
which may be easily ascertained by trying the stem with a fork. All 
vessels used in cooking vegetables should be particularly clean. Soft 
is preferable to hard water in cooking all kinds of vegetables. Pota- 
toes are in universal use, and yet how few know how to cook them 
well ! " A well-boiled potato is a thing purely ideal — it has never 
come out of the pot, in the experience of living man." This is too 
strong; but there is very much room for, and need of, improvement in 
the science of cooking a potato. To do it ^cell, the matter must be studied, 
and not performed by routine. They differ very much, even those 
grown in the same field and from the same seed. A good potato, well 
cooked and served up, is a luxury, which, unfortunately, few people 
know how to accomplish, or will not give themselves the trouble to do. 

Potatoes. — Those grown on virgin soil, of a middle size, and 
floury, are to be preferred. They should be as nearly as possible of 
one size, well washed, but not pared. They should be put into a ves- 
sel of cold water for an hour, then put into fresh water, and boiled in 
a kettle or saucepan, closely covered, in the most expeditious manner 
possible ; or they should be steamed, which would be still better. If 
boiled, no more water should be used than merely to cover them, as 
they produce a considerable quantity of fluid. When they are done, 
the water should be instantly poured off, and the kettle containing the 
cooked potatoes be placed on the side of the fire with a cover on, and 
a cloth over them, until the steam is absorbed, and rendered quite diy 
and mealy before they are sent to the table. 

Baked Potatoes.— rHave a hot baking oven, select and wash pota- 
toes of uniform size, and put them moist into a clean oven. Do not 



RECIPES. 67 

open the oven if you can avoid it for lialf an hour ; try if they are done 
in a towel. Eat them hot. 

Potato Balls. — (For Breakfast). — Boil and mash a double quan- 
tity of potatoes for dinner, season Avith sweet cream and a little salt : 
work in two fresh eggs to a quart. Mold into little balls, prick the 
tops, and lay away in the cold on a plate. In the morning put on bak- 
ing pan and set into the oven until done to a delicate brown, which re- 
quires fifteen or twenty minutes. 

Potatoes are a standard article of food on most tables, but they 
are often so badly cooked that they are neither palatable nor whole- 
some. As a breakfast dish they are excellent. We like them pre- 
pared thus : Select the smaller ones — leaving the larger ones for din- 
ner — scrape off the skins of new potatoes, put them into cold water 
for ten minutes, have water boiling, and cook them twenty minutes ; 
pour off the water and add a cup of milk or cream, and thicken it with 
a little flour and butter rubbed together. Butter never floats on the 
surface when mixed with flour thus, nor does the flour trouble you 
with lumps. It is just as well, however, to leave out the butter, mix- 
ing the flour with a little cream. 

Potatoes should always be put into boiling water to cook, boil 
quickly and pour off the water, letting them dry a few minutes over 
the fire before dishing up. Steaming is the best manner of cooking 
them. 

Mashed Potatoes should be left in the kettle after draining and 
drying as above, and mashed thoroughly over the fire ; add a little 
milk or cream, and they will be light as a sponge and white as flour. 
Never put butter into tliem. 

Steam Squash. — Squash cooked in a steamer over a little water 
is much nicer than when boiled. I never boil squash. It may be cut 
in large pieces and cooked in a kettle with a small steamer in the bot- 
tom and half a pint of water ; fill the kettle with squash and keep 
closely covered till well cooked, taking care not to let it burn. A very 
hot fire is not so good for cooking as a slow, moderate heat. May bo 
placed on the table warm or cold, mashed or not, as preferred. 

Many kinds of squash, especially late and winter squashes, are 
better baked than any other way — they are quite equal to sweet pota- 
toes when baked in a close kettle so as to partly steam them. Cut in 
dices three quarters of an inch thick. 

Raw Tomatoes.— The simplest and one of the most wholesome 
modes of preparing tomatoes is to remove the skins by scalding, cut 
them in slices and season to the taste. To our taste powdered loaf 
sugar makes the best seasoning. The tomatoes should be solid, like 
the Trophy, and perfectly ripe. As a substitute for fruit, they an- 
swer a good purpose, especially the yellow and white varieties. 

Stewed Tomatoes. — Let the tomatoes be well ripened, scald them 
and remove the skins, cut into small pieces, put into a saucepan, Avith 
a little salt and butter, and cook till well done, but no longer. Pepper 
may be added if agreeable. As a substitute for fruit, omit the pep- 



fi8 EECIPE8. 

per and sweeten to tlie taste witli white sugar. In this case Dixie and 
White Apple tomatoes are best, as they have a decidedly fruity flavor. 

Bboiled Tomatoes. — First raise your tomato. If not quite ripe, 
no matter ; cut in two flat-wise ; put it skin down, on a hot irou and in 
a few minutes (seasoned to your taste) you have a dish that is pretty, 
wholesome and delicious — tomatoes on the half shell. 

We have tried it. Those who have not, do not yet know how ex- 
quisite a morsel the tomato is capable of being made. With a little 
pepper and salt, or, better still, with butter and sugar, broiled toma- 
toes furnish a dish fit for the gods. 

Note. — This manner of pvepariDc; tomatoes is indeed excellent. We toast slices 
of bread nice and brown, butter them a little, and lay on to them the broiled 
tomatoes ; put half a teacupful of cream into the dish around the toast, and set it 
into the ovcu a few minutes before taking to the table. 

Tomatoes should be sliced and boiled in their own juice without 
water. They should boil briskly. Twenty minutes suifices for a 
quart. If boiled much longer it injures their peculiar flavor. Sea- 
son when ready to take up. 

Baked Tomatoes. — One quart of fresh round tomatoes. Scald 
and peel carefully, so as not to break the tomato ; put into a deep dish, 
and season with a little salt and cayenne. Roll a teacupful of crackers 
and spread over the top ; cover lightly, and bake in a quick oven half 
or three quarters of an hour. Two or three lumps of butter, the size 
of a Lima beau, may be dropped into the dish just before dishing up. 
Slip them out carefully, the brown side up, or leave them in the bak- 
ing dish. 

Scalloped Tomatoes. — Peel as many large ripe tomatoes as you 
wish to prepare ; cut them into slices a quarter of an inch thick. Pack 
in a pudding dish first a layer of tomatoes, then a thick layer of bread 
crumbs, salt, and a little white sugar and butter, then a layer of to- 
matoes, then bread crumbs, etc., till the dish is nearly full, having 
tomatoes last. Now dust over pepper, a little sugar and butter, strew 
the top with bread crumbs, and bake {covered) half an hour ; then re- 
move the cover and bake brown, but be careful not to scorch. 

Corn Oysters. — One quart of grated corn, three eggs well beaten, 
half a teaspoonful of salt, with flour enough to make them stick to- 
gether. Drop from a spoon into a hot buttered frying pan, making 
cakes the size of an oyster. A cup of sour milk, with half a teaspoon- 
ful of soda, will answer if eggs are not plenty. 

Green Corn on the Cob. — Remove the husks and silk from full- 
grown ears of corn in which the milk is well developed. Put them 
into sufficient boiling water to cover. Boil gently in a covered kettle 
from twenty to thirty minutes, according to the age of the corn. It ia 
better cooked by steam for half an hour. Corn which requires more 
than half an hour to cook is not good. 

Corn when Cut from the Cob. — Split the kernels of corn before 
removing from the cob, and in cutting off cut them several times 
through, leaving a large part on the cob to be scraped off, so as to 



BECIFES. 69 

make a fine mass of fhe whole. Take a pint of milk or cream, bring 
it to a boil, and put the corn in and boil slowly in a closed porcelain 
or tin vessel for ^teen or twenty minutes with a very little salt ; or, 
which is better, steam it for half an hour. It will then be very rich 
and savory. 

Succotash. — For succotash, Lima beans are the best ; the Agricul- 
tural stand second on the list. But any good variety of bush beans, 
which come earlier than these, makes an article by no means inferior. 
Shell the green beans, and boil them slowly in an abundance of water 
for one or two hours, being careful to keep them covered with water 
while boiling. Cut well-grown corn from the cob, as in the previous 
directions ; place it in a pan or basin to steam, over the beans — if not 
provided with suitable steam apparatus. Add a little water to the 
corn, and stir it occasionally. Steam from twenty to thirty minutes, 
then add the corn to the beans, and simmer for half an hour. Stir 
often, and watch carefully that it does not bum. Season to suit the 
taste. 

Dried Sweet Corn. — Wash the quantity you wish to cook. Add 
two or three times as much water, and soak over night. In the morn- 
ing place on the range or stove in a closed tin or porcelain vessel, 
where it will keep at the scalding point for four or five hours. Do 
not let it boil a moment. Be equally careful to keep it hot. Add 
water, if necessary, but do not make it too thick. Season as you like 
with salt. 

Winter Succotash. — Take equal quantities of dried sweet corn 
and of dried green beans. Wash and soak them separately, over 
night, in warm water. Add more water, if necessary, in the morning. 
Boil the beans slowly for four or five hours, adding boiling water oc- 
casionally. Cook the corn as you would without the beans. Then 
add the corn to the beans, and cook slowly, only long enough to com- 
bine them well. This is an excellent article of food, if carefully pre- 
pared, although not equal to succotash in the summer. Season with 
cream and salt. 

To Bake Beans. — Prepare them as for stewing, and place them 
with a large quantity of water in a stone-ware pot in a hot oven. Let 
the oven cool somewhat after they begin to cook, and bake them from 
four to six hours rather slowly. Leave out meat and butter, and trim 
with cream and salt. 

Dried Green Peas. — Wash the peas, pour boiling soft water over 
them, Rufiicient to cover. Let them stand over night. Stew them for 
several hours, or until they are soft and pulpy. Add boiling water 
occasionally, and keep them covered closely while cooking. Add half 
a cup of cream and a little salt, and boil ten minutes ; then dish up. 

Stewed Carrots. — One pound and a half of carrots ; one ounce of 
butter ; quarter of an ounce of parsley ; one teaspoonful of fiour, and 
four tablespooufuls of cream. About half-boil the carrots, then scrape 
and slice them ; put them into a pan with half a teacupful of vege- 
table broth, or water ; let them simmer till quite tender, but not 



70 RECIPES. 

broken ; add the chopped parsley, and stir in the flour and butter, 
previously mixed; simmer them ten minutes longer, and serve im- 
mediately. 

Green Peas. — The most important part is to get the peas fresh 
from the vines. They lose their delicious flavor in a very short time 
after picking. Wash before shelling, not after. Shell the peas, then 
select the tenderest pods, and put into just water enough to cover 
them, and after boiling them ten or fifteen minutes, skim out the 
poda and put in the peas. Boil them slowly twenty minutes, trim 
with a little rich cream, and salt. They should be boiled in so little 
water that there will not be more than a half teacupful around them 
when they are cooked, and this should be seasoned and dished with 
the peas. Those who must depend upon the markets for peas often 
find them very insipid and tasteless, notwithstanding their care in 
selecting and cooking. Sometimes a spoonful of sugar will add to 
the flavor. Boiling the pods adds much to the richness and sweetness 
of the peas. 

Asparagus. — Select green asparagus. If you have the privilege 
of cutting it from the bed, break or cut as close to the ground as it is 
tender. If you must buy from the markets, try several stalks and see 
that they are not woody and tough. The white ends are usually so, 
and are not eatable, being very bitter besides. After breaking off the 
hardest part, the asparagus may be improved by taking a thin sharp 
knife and stripping off the outside skin, beginning at the cut end and 
drawing the skin upward as far as it will go. The bitter lies next to 
the outside. Now cut the stalks into pieces an inch long, put into a 
saucepan, sprinkle over a little salt, and just cover with boiling 
water. Cook twenty minutes ; add half a teacupful of sweet cream ; 
rub together a teaspoonful of butter and a teaspoonful of flour and 
stir in ; boil up a minute or two ; toast a thin slice of bread a light 
brown ; cut into several pieces ; lay into the bottom of a dish, and 
pour the asparagus over. Or leave the asparagus without cutting up, 
lay it all one way in the saucepan, and otherwise prepare the same. 

Shelled Beans. — Of the shelling beans the Lima, Horticultural, 
and Saba are the best. They require a full hour to boil, and a large 
quantity of water, as there appears to be a more rapid evaporation 
when beans are boiling than with most vegetables. When ready to 
dish, season as other vegetables. Much seasoning destroys or covers 
up the delicious taste of the bean. A little rich cream and salt is 
sufficient. 

String Beans should be strung, broken in pieces, and boiled an 
hour or two, and seasoned the same as shelled beans. 

Boiled Cabbage. — Take off the outside leaves — all that are green 
or imperfect — from a head of white cabbage; cut into quarters, and 
lay it for a few minutes into a panful of cold salted water. This will 
at once remove slugs or insects. Open the leaves, but do not break 
them from the stem. Shake them in the water and examine carefully, 
then put into a kettle containing at least three quarts of fast boiling 
water. Cover the kettle and boil fast for three quarters of an hour. 



EECIPES. 71 

Boil a tea-cnpful of rich milk or cream, thicken with a spoonful of 
flour, and pour over the cabbage, which has been taken up into a vege- 
table dish and all the water drained off. Add a little salt and a 
sprinkle of cayenn'e. 

Cabbage with Milk. — Cut half of a solid head of cabbage fine as 
for slaw. Have a deep spider on the fire and hot. Put in your cab- 
bage, pour quickly over it a pint of boiling water, cover close, and 
cook for ten minutes ; then pour off the water that remains, and add 
half a pint of rich milk. When the milk boils up stir in a tea-spoon- 
ful of flour moistened with a little cream or milk, a sprinkle of salt, 
and cook the flour a minute, then dish up. 

Those who usually find cabbage an unpleasantly indigestible 
article of food will be gratified with the result of this mode of cooking 
it. It is quite like cauliflower, and is much cheaper. 

Dr. Everett's Choice. — Cut fine as much clean nice cabbage as 
will fill a spider. Place it in this utensil, cover with a plate, and let 
it cook till done in the steam from its own juices. 

Onions. — The unpleasant breath which eating this vegetable pro- 
duces is perhaps the greatest objection to its use, but still it is a very 
wholesome and desirable article of food for many, and hence should 
be brought on the table in the most attractive form. White onions, 
and those grown in the South, are least odorous and pungent. Take 
off the outside skin, cut off both ends close, and let them stand in cold 
water an hour, then drop them into a saucepan with two quarts of 
boiling water. Cover, and boil fifteen minutes. Have a kettle of boil- 
ing water on the fire ready for use, pour off the water from the 
onions, and add as much more — be sure the water is boiling — and boil 
half an hour longer. Scald a cupful of rich milk, pour off the second 
water from the onions, add the milk and a little Graham flour to 
thicken it. Salt and otherwise season to taste. Boil up a few minutes 
and serve the onions whole ; or they may be cut in halves before 
cooking. 

Cold Slaw. — Take half a head of white cabbage, cut it into fine 
shreds, and put into a bowl or deep dish. Add the juice of a large 
lemon and two spoonfuls of cold water, and stir together ; then sift 
evenly over the cabbage three or four table-spoonfuls of granulated 
sugar ; shake the dish so that the sugar may be diffused, but do not 
stir it again. Let it stand ten or fifteen minutes and then serve. 

Grape or currant vinegar is very nice instead of lemon, and a pref- 
erable acid with many. 

Potato Salad. — Cut six or eight cold potatoes into even, thin 
slices, and put into a salad dish. Cut fine, and sprinkle over the 
potatoes a tea-spoonful of parsley, and a little salt and cayenne. Stir 
half a tea-cupful of good cream jantil it is very smooth and foamy ; 
pour over the potatoes, and mix carefully, so as not to break the 
slices. A little prepared mustard, and a few stalks of white celery 
chopped fine, is an addition. This is a good dish for a hearty lunch. 



72 EECIPES. 

S WEET Potatoes may be peeled, cut in thin slices or strips, and 
fried, heating and buttering the skillet in the same way. They will 
not bear quite so hot a fire, nor take so long to cook. Use as little 
butter as possible. Fried food is not considered so wholesome as 
boiled or steamed, but is sometimes more convenient to prepare. 

Egg Plant. — Pare and cut into slices, half an inch thick, two or 
three egg plants, according to the size of your family, and put to soak 
in cold salted water for two hours. This removes a black, bitter 
juice, said to be unhealthful, certainly very disagreeable. Then press 
the slices between two plates, and wipe them on a clean cloth, then 
boil till soft enough to mash like turnips. Mash them smooth, add a 
few bread crumbs soaked in sweet cream, a little chopped parsley and 
salt, and a sprinkle of cayenne. Mis all thoroughly, pour into a but- 
tered baking dish, cover the top with bread crumbs, and bake half an 
hour. 

CaulipIiOWER. — Soak the head two hours in cold salted water, and 
boil till tender in plenty of water. Have the water boiling when you 
put in the flower. Pour off the water, and add a cup of cream or 
milk. Rub together a tea-spoouful of butter and a large spoonful of 
flour. Stir into the milk, season as you like, and let all boil up to- 
gether for five minutes and serve. 

Spinach. — Wash carefully in plenty of cold salt and water, put it 
into a saucepan that will just hold it, put in some salt, and pour over 
it a pint of boiling water. Cover close, and let it cook slowly twenty 
minutes. Drain off all the water, and pour over it a gill of scalded 
cream or a little butter, and it is ready for the table. 

PIES. 

Pies are wholesome or not as they are well or badly made. An 
apple pie can be so prepared as to be nearly or quite as simple as 
bread, butter, and apple sauce. A whole meal may be made of it with- 
out injury to the health. On the other hand, it may be so prepared 
as to be unfit for the stomach of even a rhinoceros. The model pie is 
in our opinion the apple pie. Peach pies are highly relished bj' many ; 
but the peach loses its finest flavor by cooking, where.as the apple is 
improved by this process. Most of the berries in their season make 
good pies. So does rice and eggs, and the custard pie is not only deli- 
cious but wholesome. Meat mince pies are not to be tolerated by deli- 
cate people ; though they may be eaten by men of strong digestion, 
who live much in the open air and do muscular work. The first 
point to be secured in a pie is good crust. In general terms, this 
should be thin and, when well baked, tender. It should not be short- 
ened with lard, but the best of cream — or in the absence of this, good 
butter. Delicate fruits are soon tainted with the shortening of the 
crust. Many in baking pies, use too much crust. The less that can 
be used the better the pie will be. The crust should be thin, the fruit 
good pie-apples, and plenty of them, put between the crust. Where 
the two crusts meet on the edge of the dish, care should be taken to 



KECirES. 73 

have the apples pressed out, so that there shall not be a wide strip of 
thick crust with no apples near them. An apple pie should be eaten 
just after it is cool. If eaten while hot, it is apt to go down only half 
masticated, and the effect of the heat on the tongue tends to destroy 
the finer sense of taste. After an apple pie is one day old it begins to 
grow stale, unless it is kept with great care. Soyer, the famous Lon- 
don pie-maker, thinks that if all the spoilt pies made in London on 
one single Sunday Avere placed in a row beside a railway, it would 
take an express-train an hour to pass them in review. Whoever will 
induce bakers to improve their methods of making them, will be a 
public benefactor. The usual price for a piece of pie in a New York 
restaurant is ten cents. They could be afforded for half that price, at 
a profit, too, if there were no spoiled pies. 

The following receipts for pie pastry will be found excellent. They 
may be varied somewhat to suit individual tastes, pro\nded only the 
general rules be kept in view. We commend the cream shortening as 
better than any other. 

Good Pie Crust. — A quart of flour will make two large pies. Sift 
the flour. Take a large, strong spoon, and stir into the flour one quar- 
ter of a pound of butter and a tea-spoonful of yeast powder ; then 
moisten with cold water — ice water if you have it — using just as little 
as will make the flour stick together. Sprinkle some of the shortened 
flour on the pie-board, and roll the ci'ust large enough for the pie-pan ; 
do not try to make smooth edges until you have put in the filling, 
and the upper crust ; then press the edges firmly together and cut off 
the rough edges with a knife. The secret of good, tender, plain pas- 
try is speedy work — no working with the warm hands. 

Cream and Potato Pastry. — Six good-sized potatoes, boiled and 
mashed, mealy, and white, one tea^cup of sweet cream, half tea-spoon- 
ful of salt, and flour enough to make it stay together, and roll out. 
Work and handle as little as possible, and roll thicker than for com- 
mon pastry. 

This is Mrs. Beecher's receipt for "pastry for meat pi^," and is 
exactly what a wholesome fruit pie needs. Light tart apples, cut in 
thin slices, and filled into such a crust with a table-spoonful of water 
and two of sugar added, and a top-crust, baked half an hour, will be 
good enough for an epicure. 

Mrs. Cox's Method. — Pour sufficient boiling water upon wheat 
meal to make a stiff dough ; roll, without kneading, to any desired 
thickness, from an eighth to a half inch. 

Note.— This makes a very tender crust, quite a? much eo as can be made in the 
ordinary way. It may be made of superfine flour, or rye meal, or a mixture of dif- 
ferent kinds. 

To have the crust tender, it must not be kneaded, but rolled out 
with plenty of meal on the board. 

Mattie Jones' Cream Pie Crust. — Take equal quantities of 
Graham flour, white flour, and Indian meal ; rub evenly together, and 



74 EECIPES. 

wet with very thin sweet cream. It should be rolled thin and baked 
in an oven as hot as for common pie crust. 

Note. — Tliis makes excellent pastry if properly baked. Many patients have said 
to us they did not see how they could ever again relish the pastry in common use 
(this is so much sweeter and more palatable, to say nothing of its wholesomeness). 

Apple Pies. — Take nice, tart apples — spitzenbergs are best, al- 
though pippins, greenings, russets, etc., are excellent. Slice them ; 
fill the under crust an inch thick ; sprinkle sugar over them ; add a 
^spoonful or two of water ; cover with a thin crust, and bake three- 
fourths of an hour in a moderate oven. 

Another. — Peel and cut about two pounds of apples — sharp ones 
being the best for the purpose ; cut each into four pieces, removing 
the cores ; then cut each quarter into two or three pieces, according to 
the size. Put half of them into a pie-dish, slightly press them down ; 
put over them two ounces of brown sugar ; put in tlie remaining ap- 
ples ; then add another two ounces of sugar, making the apples form 
a kind of dome, the center being two inches higher than the sides ; 
add a small wine-glass of water ; cover the top with paste, and bake 
in a moderate oven from half to three-quarters of an hour. 

Mock Apple Pie. — For a large pie-plate, two crackers (milk or 
soda), one egg, one cup of sugar, one of water, and the juice of one 
lemon ; add a pinch of salt, and spice with nutmeg or the rind of the 
lemon. This is quite a tolerable counterfeit. 

Apple Puffs. — Peel and core six tart apples, cook quickly with 
very little water ; cover close so as to make them white and free from 
lumps ; when done to a puff, sprinkle over them two heaping spoon- 
fuls of sugar, and stir smooth. Set to cool. Prepare your pastry. 
Beat the whites of three eggs to a stiff froth, stir into the apples and 
fill the crust ; grate a little nutmeg or cinnamon over the top. No top 
crust. Bake ia a quick oven, only long enough to cook the pastry. 

Apple Float. — A pint of stewed, well mashed apples ; whites of 
three eggs, four large spoonfuls of sugar, beaten until stiff ; then add 
the apples and beat all together until stiff enough to stand alone. Fill 
a deep dish with rich cream, boiled soft custard, and pile the float on 
top. This is excellent with other fruits in place of apples. 

French Apple Turnovers. — Eight large apples ; eight ounces of 
sugar ; two ounces of butter, and the rind of a lemon. 

Prepare the apples as for a pie ; put them into a saucepan with the 
sugar, butter, the rind of a lemon rubbed on a piece of sugar, and two 
table-spoonfuls of water ; cover the pan, and set it over a slow fire, 
turning it occasionally till the apples are about half done, and pour 
them into a basin to cool. Roll out a piece of paste in a circular form, 
the eighth of an inch thick, and about the size of a dinner-plate ; wet 
it round, and fasten a rolled cord of paste within an inch of the edge ; 
put in the prepared apples, raising them in the center in the form of a 
dome ; spread some apricot or orange marmalade over the surface, 
and cover the whole with another circular piece of paste, and press 
the edges together, or fold them over in the form of a cord. Spread 



KECIPES. 75 

some beaten white of egg all over the top with a soft paste-brush ; then 
strew coarsely pounded or rough granite sugar over the entire sur- 
face, and bake lightly in a moderately hot oven. 

Jam Turnovers. — Roll out some short paste about one-eighth of an 
inch thick ; cut it in pieces about four inches in length, and between 
two and three inches in lireadth ; lay on each a little apple jam, or any 
other preserved fruit, without syrup ; turn the edges over, wetting 
them, as little as possible, with water ; press them lightly together, 
and also the ends ; lay tliem on tins, and bake in a moderately hot 
oven. Ice them very perfectly, and return them to the oven for a 
few minutes, or set them in a Dutch or American oven before the 
fire. 

Apple Pie Cake. — Mix unbolted wheat with cold water, making 
a batter soft enough to nearly level itself. If shortening is desired, 
use sweet cream or butter. Fill a rather deep pie-plate about a third 
full of the batter, and sprinkle over a little sugar. Wash, quarter, 
and core tart apples, and place as many in the batter (skin side 
up) as it will hold. They may be pressed down and leveled with a 
stiff spoon. Over the top sprinkle some sugar, and bake till nicely 
brown. 

This cake is both wholesome, nutritious, and delicious. Children 
and grown folks can eat of it freely without inj ury. 

■^ CocOA-NuT Pies. — Open the ei/es of a cocoa-nut with a pointed 
knife or a gimlet, and pour out the milk into a cup ; then break the 
shell and take out the meat and grate it fine. Take the sanae weight 
of sugar and the grated nut and stir together ; beat four eggs, the 
whites and yolks separately, to astiif foam ; mix one cup of cream, and 
the milk of the cocoa-nut with the sugar and nut, then add the eggs 
and a few drops of orange or lemon extract. Line deep pie-tins with 
a nice crust, fill them with the custard and bake carefully half an hour. 

Lemon Pie. — For each peeled and grated lemon add one tea-cup of 
sugar, and one table-spoonful of corn-starch dissolved in cold water. 
Over this pour a tea-cup of boiling water. 

Crust. One part white iiour, one part Graham flour, one part corn- 
meal. Shorten it with butter or condensed milk, reduced one-third. 
Use two crusts. 

The above recipe for lemon pie is used in our Institution, and has 
given perfect satisfaction. 

Another Recipe. — Take two lemons, two eggs, one cup of sugar, 
one cup of water, and one large table-spoonful of flour. After grating 
the peel, take off and throw away the white rind, and cut the lemon 
in small pieces, carefully picking out the seeds. After the under 
crust is laid in, sugar it well. Bake with two crusts. Lemon pie is 
not quite so easily managed by the stomach, and should be eaten more 
sparingly than apple pie. 

Pumpkin or Squash Pie. — Cut the pumpkin into small pieces; 
take out the seeds and inside, but do not pare it. It must be a well- 
grown and thoroughly ripened pumpkin, and not watery. Put the 



76 RECIPES. 

pieces into a sauce-pan with only a few spoonfuls of water, not more 
than four ; cover close and let it cook gently so as not to scorch, until 
the water has all evaporated, and the pumpkin has cooked quite dry 
and of a rich, dark, orange color. While hot, sift it through a coarse 
sieve. Season only as much as you are needing for the day. For one 
large pie, one egg, one table- spoonful of molasses, four table-spoonf ula 
of condensed milk, or enough of new milk to make it as thin as you 
wish ; or, if you have it, half milk and half cream, instead of con- 
densed milk. Sugar to suit the taste. 

Aj^^OTHER. — Select a pumpkin which has a deep, rich color, and 
firm, close texture. Stew and sift in the ordinary manner ; add as 
much boiling milk as will make it about one-third thicker than for 
common pumpkin pie. Sweeten with equal quantities of sugar and 
molasses, and bake about one hour in a hot oven. 

Note.— Those who will try this method will be surprised to find how delicious a 
pie can be made without egg^, ginger, or spices of any kind. The milk being turned 
Doiliug hot upon the pumpkin, causes it to swell in baking, so that it is as light and 
nice as though eggs had been used. 

Squash Pie. — ^This is even superior to pumpkin, as it possesses a 
richer, sweeter flavor, and is far preferable. It is made in precisely 
the same manner as pumpkin pie. 

Sweet Potato Pie. — Boil and sift through a colander, nice, ripe, 
sweet potatoes, add boiling milk, and make the same as pumpkin pie. 

Sweet Apple Pie. — Pare mellow, sweet apples, and grate them 
upon a grater. A very large grater is necessary for this purpose. 
Then proceed as for pumpkin pie. 

Note. — The four receipts last mentioned, are from Mrs. Jones' Cook-book, a 
work of which thousands have been sold, and which has been republished in Eng- 
land. 

• Rice Pie. — Take cold rice, cooked in milk ; add sufficient cream to 
make quite thin ; mash it with a wooden or silver spoon till free from 
lumps. Beat up four eggs very light — yolks and whites separately ; 
sweeten to suit your taste, and pour in the eggs — the whites last ; stir 
well ; cover a deep custard or pumpkin pie-plate with pastry, pour in 
the rice, and bake, but not long enough to malve the custard watery. 

Rice pie should be made thick, and eaten when fresh, but not till 
after it is cold. Children are fond of it, and may be allowed as much 
as they wish. 

Cranberry Pie. — Stew a few good, ripe, sweet apples, and add an 
equal quantity of cranberries. Cover a deep plate with a crust, and 
fill even full ; roll the upper crust, and cut in strips half an inch wide 
and lay across the pie, leaving the spaces diamond-shaped, and bake. 

Strawberry Pie. — Place the under crust upon a deep plate, and 
the upper one — cut just the right size — on aflat tin or sheet-iron; 
prick to prevent blistering, and bake. Fill the deep dish while hot 
with strawberries, and cover with the flat crust. If the fruit is rather 
hard, replace in the oven till heated ; if quite ripe, the crust will steam 
them sufficiently. 



KECIPES. 77 

Raspberry aud blackberry pie may be made in the same manner. 
The flavor of these delicious berries, when quite ripe, is greatly in- 
jured by cooking ; and they are also changed to a mass of little else 
than seeds and juice. 

Ripe Berry Pies, generally, may be prepared as above, and baked 
till the fruit is cooked, which takes only a few minutes. This method 
is much better than baking the fruit with the crust, as the greater part 
of the juice is often lost before the crust is cooked. 

Berry Tarts. — Cover gem-pans with crust, as for little pies, and 
bake ; when nearly done, till up with berries and replace in the oven 
a few minutes. 

Note. — The four receipts mentioned above, are from Mrs. Cox's Hygiene Cook- 
hook, a radical, but thoughtful little book of one hundred pages, which will repay 
a careful reading. 

Pie for Dyspeptics. — Four table-spoonf als of oatmeal, one pint of 
water ; let stand a few hours, or till the meal is well swelled. Then 
add two large apples, pared and sliced, a little salt, one cup of sugar, 
one table-spoonful of flour. Mix all well together and bake in a but- 
tered pie-dish ; and you have a most delicious pie, which may be eaten 
with safety by the sick or Avell. 

We might go on giving other receipts for pies ; but trust to the in- 
genuity of the reader to get up her own methods, bearing in mind al- 
ways the rule that they be healthfully made. 

CUSTARDS. 

Almond Custards. — One pint of milk ; half a pint of cream ; one 
ounce and a half of sweet almonds ; five yolks and two whites of 
eggs, and four ounces of white sugar. Boil the milk and cream with 
a small stick of cinnamon ; pour into a basin, and when cool, take out 
cinnamon ; set the milk on a slow fire, adding the sugar, the eggs, 
well beaten, and the almonds, blanched and chopped fine ; stir on the 
fire till thick, but do not allow it to boil ; pour it into a jug or bowl, 
stirring it frequently till cold, and serve in custard glasses. 

Arrowroot Custards. — One ounce of arrowroot ; three-quarters 
of a pint of milk , three ounces of sugar, and four eggs. Mix the 
arrowroot with a quarter of a pint of cold milk, adding the eggs, well 
beaten, the sugar, and a little almond-flavor ; add half a pint of boil- 
ing milk, stirring constantly, and when cold, serve in custard glasses. 

Milk Custard. — One pint of new milk ; one table-spoonful of flour; 
one table-spoonful of thick cream ; cinnamon ; almond-flavor, and sugar. 
Set the milk over the fire with a little cinnamon, stirring it till quite 
hot, but not allowing it to boil. Mix the cream and flour together ; 
pour on the hot milk ; stir well, adding the almond-flavor, and sugar. 
Bake lightly, without crust, in a moderate oven. 

Another. — One quart of new milk ; sugar, and one stick of cinna- 
mon. Boil the cinnamon in a pan with the new milk ; take the pan 
off the fire, and stir in the sugar. Bake in pie or pudding dishes. 



78 RECIPES. 

lined with custard paste. The paste should be pricked with a fork, 
but not through to the dish, and partly baked before the custard is 
put in. Egg custard may be made in the same way, allowing five or 
six eggs, according to size, to a quart of new milk. 

Baked Custards. — One pint of cream ; four eggs ; cinnamon ; al- 
mond-flavor, and three ounces of sugar. Boil the cream with a piece 
of cinnamon ; pour it into a basin, and when cold, add the eggs, well 
beaten and strained, the sugar powdered, and a few drops of almond- 
flavor. Bake in small cups, in a cool oven. 

Plain Custards. — The same, without any condiments. One quart 
of new milk ; the yolks of eight and the whites of four eggs ; five 
ounces of sugar ; quarter of a pint of cream ; the rind of a lemon, and 
a small stick of cinnamon. Boil the milk with the cinnamon, sugar, 
and the rind of the lemon, pared very thin ; when the milk has boil- 
ed a few minutes, pour it into a bowl ; beat the eggs, adding the 
cream, and mix well in the milk ; then strain the whole into the pan, 
and set it on a slow fire, stirring constantly till near boiling ; pour it 
into a jug, stirring it till nearly cold, and serve in custard glasses. 

Gooseberry Custards. — Three pints of green gooseberries ; quar- 
ter of a pound of sugar ; four eggs, and two table-spoonfuls of orange- 
flower water. Set the gooseberries in cold water over a slow fire, and 
simmer till soft ; then drain the water away, and rub them through a 
sieve ; to a pint of pulp add the eggs, the sugar, and orange-flower 
water ; set it over the fire, stirring constantly till it becomes thick, 
and when cold, serve in custard glasses. 

Lemon Custards. — Eight eggs ; six ounces of sugar ; two lemons ; 
a tea-cupful of cream ; one pint of boiling water, anO two table-spoon- 
fuls of orange-flower water. Beat the yolks of the eggs till quite 
frothy ; pour on them the boiling water, stirring quickly all the time ; 
add the sugar, and the rind of the lemons, grated ; stir it over a slow 
fire, till thick, adding the cream, and orange-flower water ; when 
hot, stir in the lemon- juice ; pour it into a basin ; stir till nearly 
cold, and serve in custard glasses. 

Lemon Custards. — One large lemon ; one quart of new milk ; 
quarter of a pound of white sugar, and seven eggs. Grate off the 
rind of .the lemon ; put it with the sugar in the milk, and boil quarter 
of an hour ; strain, and let it remain till cool ; then stir in the eggs, 
well beaten and strained, leaving out three whites ; pour it into cups 
with half a tea-spoonful of fresh butter, melted, in each cup ; set them 
in water, and bake in a moderate oven ; color them when done, by 
holding a hot salamander over, and serve cold, with sugar sifted on the 
top. 

Raspberry Custards. — One pint of cream ; three quarters of a 
pint of raspberry juice, and half a pound of white sugar. Boil the 
cream ; dissolve the sugar in the raspberry juice ; mix it with the 
boiling cream, stirring it till quite thick, and serve in custard glasses. 

^ RrcE Custards. — One ounce and a half of ground rice ; three ounces 
of loaf sugar, and one pint of new milk. Boil the rice in the milk, 



KECIPES. 79 

adding the sugar, and a piece of cinnamon ; pour it into custard cups, in 
wliic]i a little fresh butter has been melted, and bake in a slow oven. 

Vanilla Custakds.— One stick of vanilla ; one pint and a half of 
new milk ; half a pint of cream ; quarter of a pound of white sugar, 
and seven yolks and four whites of eggs. Cut the vanilla into slips ; 
boil in the milk and cream quarter of an hour, adding the sugar; 
strain, and let it remain till cool ; then stir in the eggs, well beaten ; 
pour it into cups with half a tea-spoonful of fresh butter, melted, in 
each cup ; set them in water ; bake in a moderate oven ; color them 
when done by holding a hot salamander over, aud serve cold, with 
sugar sifted on the top. 

White Custards. — One pint of cream ; three ounces of sugar ; the 
whites of four eggs, and one table-spoonful of orange-flower water. 
Boil tlie cream with a blade of mace ; let it simmer for about five 
minutes ; then take it of? the fire, and add the sugar ; beat the whites 
of the eggs to a complete froth ; put them into the cream ; set it on 
the fire again, and let it boil gently, stirring constantly, till it becomes 
thick; take it off tlie fire; add the orange-flower water, or a few drops 
of almond-flavor, and serve in custard glasses. 

Note.— Custards are both wholesome and nutritions, especially for delicate stom- 
ach!?, and for those recovering from siclcticBs, especially if nsed in modeniiion, they 
supply the waste of nerve-tissue better than meals or breads. The custard pie is 
made by baking the custard iu an appropriate crust. 



PUDDINGS. 

Rice Pudding. — One cup of fresh whole rice ; nine cupfuls of new 
milk, and one cup of sugar. Put into a stone or eartheii pan, and 
bake in a moderate oven three hours. Stir it t%vo or three times during 
the first hour ; do not increase the heat of the oven after the milk be- 
gins to simmer ; be careful not to scorch or blister ; a light cover to- 
ward the last will be better. Set to cool undisturbed. It is best eaten 
cold, llaisins may be added, if desired. 

Another. — Five tea-cupfuls of rice picked and washed ; fifteen 
quarts of new milk ; one and a half pound of white sugar ; one pound 
of raisins. Bake three hours in a moderate oven ; stir it occasioiuxlly 
for two hours ; then leave it to brown over. This makes a delicious 
pudding, plain and simple. 

Bread Pudding. — To one loaf of bread, well grated, pour" two quarts 
of boiled milk or cream ; four eggs ; a quarter of a pound of white 
sugar ; flavor to the taste (mace is a very good flavor), and bake an 
hour. If the boiled milk is poured upon ])ieces of stale bread and left ' 
standing two hours, they can be mashed and freed from lumps with 
the hand before putting'in the eggs. Dried currants, that have been 
well washed and swelled in lukewarm water, or raisins, will be a good 
addition to this pudding. If made with crackers it will be still more 
delicate. Cold sauce may be eaten with it or fruit sauce, if no fruit is 
put into the pudding. 



80 KECTl'ES. 

Apple and Tapioca Pudding.— Put a tea-cupful of tapioca into a 
quart of warm water before breakfast ; set it where it will keep warm 
for three hours ; stir it from the bottom once or twice and keep covered. 
Pare and cut in thin slices five or six nice tart apples, and lay them 
in the bottom of the pudding-dish ; add a heaped cupful of sugar, 
dissolved in hot water, to the tapioca ; stir well together, and pour 
over the apples ; bake slowly for two hours. To be eaten with whipped 
cream flavored with a little lemon or orange. Good either hot or cold. 

Graham Gem Pudding. — Take six cold gems — yesterday's baking ; 
break them into small pieces, and pour over them one pint of cold 
water ; cover and let them soften for an hour ; then add a pint and a 
half of new milk ; a handful of seeded raisins or currants ; one beaten 
egg, and one tea-spoonful of cream-yeast. Mix half a cup of sugar and 
the cream-yeast thoroughly together, before putting them with the 
other ingredients. Stir together well and quickly ; butter the pud- 
ding-dish with cold, sweet butter, and bake in a quick oven three- 
fourths of an hour. 

Steamed Graham Pudding. — Sour milk or fresh buttermilk, five 
cupfuls ; brown sugar, two cups ; butter, half a cup ; two tea-spoon- 
fuls of soda ; two eggs ; half a pound of seeded dates. Graham flour 
enough to make a thin batter. The dates should be chopped fine and 
rolled in flour before they are put into the batter. Steam for three 
hours. Make a sauce of milk and cornstarch, or eat with good cream. 

Apple and Bread Pudding. — Break and rub bread fine ; peel and 
chop good, sweetish apples — sweet apples keep their place, and take 
a little longer to cook ; butter a pudding-dish, then put a layer of 
apples an inch deep, then a layer of bread-crumbs not quite so thick, 
then another layer of apples, alternating, till the dish is full ; bread 
being last. A little butter may be added to each layer of bread, or a 
table-spoonful of cream sprinkled over each. Bake an hour, or till the 
apples are thoroughly cooked. Serve with sweet sauce, or cream. 

Cherry Pudding. — One quart of scalded milk; one pint of corn- 
meal ; half a pint of Graham flour, or a little less of fine flour ; four 
eggs well beaten ; a tea-spoonful of yeast-powder, and a pint of ripe 
cherries ; wash, and pick out the imperfect cherries ; leave the seeds 
in ; drain off all the water, and roll the cherries, while damp, in 
some of the flour. Stir all together ; put into a pudding-mould or bag, 
and boil two hours. To be eaten with sugar and cream. The late 
black cherries are the best for this pudding. They are not so juicy, 
retain their shape, and diffuse a rich purple tint around them, which 
makes the pudding handsome for the table. 

Poor Man's Pudding. — One cup of flour ; one cup of cornmeal ; one 
table-spoonful of cream-yeast powder mixed well with the meal and 
flour ; two cups of rich milk ; one cup of molasses ; one cup of cur- 
rants washed and rolled in flour ; one table-spoonful of butter rubbed 
evenly and cold into the pudding-mould. Mix the ingredients well 
together ; put into the mould, and boil three hours. Be careful to 
keep the pudding-mould upright in the boiling kettle. Do not allow 
the water to stop boiling at any time, or to boil over the top of the 



RECIPES. 81 

mould, as it is almost impossible to have the lid so close that water 
will not get in and quite spoil the pudding. When done turn the pud- 
ding out of the mould into a broad platter and serve hot with cream 
sauce. 

Note. — The poor man'? pudding may suggest the possibilit j' of not having a mould 
to boil it in. A small, high tin pail wiih a lid which can he tied down tight will do 
quite as well, thciugli it may have to boil an hour longer, to cook the center of the 
l)iidding. A pnddiiig-bag dipped in cold water and floured inside is just as good. 
The pudding-mould xs a great convenience, not an essential. 

Cottage Pudding. — One-half cup of sugar ; one egg ; one cupful 
of cream ; one pint of flour ; one heaping tea-spoonful of Taylor's 
cream-yeast. Bake in a cake-pan. To be eaten with a hot, sweet 
sauce, or with cold cream. 

Graham Birdsnest Pudding— Is made by laying in a deep dish 
nice quartered apples, and pouring over them a thin batter made of 
flour ; one tea-cup of sour milk, and about one-third of a tea-spoonful 
of soda. Bake iu a moderate oven till the apples are thoroughly 
cooked. 

Tapioca Custard Pudding. — Soak two table-spoons tapioca over 
night in cold water ; when ready to make custard, boil one quart milk; 
while boiling add beaten yolks of three eggs, three-fourths cup sugar, 
and the tapioca ; turn in the dish you wish to serve it in ; have the 
beaten whites ready, sweetened a little and spread over top ; put in 
oven and just brown a little. Eat cold. 

Deumonico Pudding. — Three table-spoonfuls cornstarch ; one 
quart boiling milk ; three eggs, whites and yolks separated. Mix 
yolks with cornstarch and add milk gradually. Let it boil. Beat 
whites to stiff froth, sweeten. Put cornstarch in pudding-dish, cover 
with frosting and set in oven to brown. To be eaten cold. 

Nice Cheap Pudding. — One quart of milk; four table-spoonfuls of 
flour ; four eggs ; six table-spoonfuls of sugar ; nutmeg. Steam three- 
fourths of an hour. 

Sago Pudding. — One dozen tart apples ; one and a half cups of 
sago ; soak the sago till soft ; peel and core the apples, and place in a 
dish ; fill the apples with sugar ; pour the sago over, and bake till th» 
apples are cooked. 

Sago Birdsnest Pudding — Is made by laying quartered fresh 
apples, or stewed dried ones, in a pan about half full, and pouring 
over them the sago, prepared as for a thin mush ; then bake in a 
moderate oven till the apjiles are cooked ; say an hour or more, accord- 
ing to the size of the pudding. 

Indian Pudding. — Extra good. — Two tea-cups of cornmeal ; half a 
cup of superfine flour; one cup of syrup ; half a tea-spoonful of salt. 
Scald three quarts of milk, and stir into the above. Let it stand half 
an hour — stir it again. Bake quickly until it boils, then slowly about 
two hours. 

4 



82 EECIPES. 

A Simple Cornmeal Pudding.— Stir into a quart of boiling milk 
the yolks of two eggs, three heaping spoonfuls of meal and a half a 
cup of sugar, well beaten together. Cook five minutes, stirring con- 
stantly ; remove from the fire, and add the whites, beaten to a stiff 
froth. Pour into a pudding-dish, and balie one hour in a moderate 
Oven. Serve with cream and sugar. 

Batter Pudding. — Take a half pound of flour ; one pint of milk ; 
two eggs, and one tea-spoonful of baking powder. Rub the baking- 
powder quite smooth ; mis it well with the flour, then stir in nearly 
half of the milk, and beat it perfectly smooth ; add the remainder of 
the milk and the eggs, well beaten ; boil the pudding one and a half 
hours, in a buttered basin, and serve with sweet sauce ; or put it into 
a buttered dish, and bake it in a quick oven. 

Baked Batter Pudding with Fruit. — Take a half-pound of 
flour ; one pint of milk ; the yolks of four, and whites of two eggs, 
and half a tea-spoonful of baking-powder. Rub the powder till smooth, 
mixing it well with the flour, and as much milk as will make it a stiff 
batter ; beat it till quite smooth, then add the remainder of the milk, 
and the eggs, well beaten. Put some apples, cut as for a pie, into a 
buttered dish ; pour the batter over, and bake in a moderately hot 
oven. Damsons, currants, gooseberries, or rhubarb, may be used in 
the same way. 

CAKES. 

Cake is good and wholesome when it is plain and simple. It 
is bad when it is too rich and compounded of too many ingredients. 
It may be eaten freely like bread in the former case. In the latter it 
had better not be eaten at all. Children are generally fond of cake. 
It ought always to be so made that they can eat of it without injuring 
the vigor of the stomach, which should always be preserved. We would 
always have the family cake made of the best of coarse flour. It is 
sweeter and more wholesome. Most of the following receipts are such 
as have been used in our Institution for years ; a few are favorites at 
other institutions. All may be varied to suit individual wants, always 
keeping in mind the two words, simplicity and healthfulness. 

Cookies for Forty or Fifty. — Four cups of sugar ; one cup of 
butter ; two cups of sour milk ; two tea-spoonfuls of cream-yeast, 
brown or white ; flour sufficient to roll them out. Work them but 
1 little ; make them thin, and bake in a quick oven. 

Cup Cake for Seventy-five or Eighty. — Four cups sugar 
(white) ; one of butter ; four eggs ; rub these together ; then add three 
tea-cups of sweet milk ; ten tea-spoonfuls Taylor's cream-yeast, mixed 
with the flour of which you use a sufficient quantity to make the whole 
into a stiff batter. 

■^ Graham Cup Cake. — Unbolted wheat meal, two cupf uls ; buttermilk, 
one cup ; molasses, half-cup ; butter, quarter of a cup ; eggs, two ; 
soda, half a tea-spoonful. Bake half an hour. 



EKCIPES. 83 

Drop Cakes. — Put six well-beaten eggs into a pint of thick cream ; 
add a little saltj and make it into a thick batter with flour. Bake it 
in rings or in small cups fifteen or twenty minutes. The same may- 
be made with Graham flour. 

Delicious Corn Gem Cake. — One quart of cornmeal ; two quarts 
of sweet milk ; two heaped teaspoonfuls of cream-yeast ; two eggs. 
Bake in a quick oven. 

Strawberry Shortcake. — To a quart of flour (enough for two 
cakes) put tlu-ee heaping spoonfuls of baking-powder (Taylor's). Sift 
together thoroughly and rub in one ounce of butter. Wet with a pint 
of sweet milk, using a spoon. The mixture will be somewhat softer 
than common pie-crust. Do not try to mould or roll out the dough. 
Spread it on tin pie-plates by patting with the hand. It should be 
about an inch in thickness. Bake slowly at first till the cakes have 
Lad time to rise ; then increase the heat, and expect them to be done 
■within twenty-five minutes. Split the cakes hot from the oven ; 
spread the halves with butter (liberally if good), and cover them with 
the fruit previously sweetened. Place one on the other (the upper 
half is reversed of course), or each on a plate by itself. It is a good 
rule to sugar your strawberries before you begin to make your cake, 
and if they are large, or not very ripe, it is best to cut them in two, or 
mash them a little. Don't calculate for these cakes standing on the 
stove hearth a minute. They should be served like griddle-cakes — no 
time lost between the oven and the table. Observe these rules and 
you will have a dish as dainty as Izaak Walton's Baked Fish, of which 
he said, "It is too good for any but very honest people." When straw- 
berries are gone, red raspberries (Clark's or Philadelphia) are very nice 
in their place. White currants are also very much liked as a substi- 
tute, and peach shortcake is hardly surpassed by the strawberry itself, 
if the peaches are first-rate. All these fruits should be prepared by 
sweetening en hour or two before wanted. 

Shakespeare Cake. — Six cups of flour ; one of sugar ; one of rich 
cream ; eight eggs. 

Orange Cake. — Two cups of sugar ; yolk of five eggs and white of 
four ; half a cup of water ; two cups of flour ; one teaspoonful of bak- 
ing-powder, juice and grated rind of one orange. Spread and bake on 
tin pie-plates. Tliis quantity should cover six plates. Make a jelly 
by beating the white of one egg to a froth, and adding to it three 
quarters of a pound of powdered sugar, and the grated rind and juice 
of another orange. Spread the jelly on the cakes and lay one above 
another in three tiers. 

Silver Cake. — Two and a half cups of flour ; half a cup of butter ; 
two cups of sugar ; three-fourths of a cup of sweet milk ; white of 
eight eggs ; two teaspoonfuls of baking-powder. 

Gold Cake. — Two cups of flour ; three-fourths of a cup of butter ; 
one cup of sugar ; one egg, and the yolk of eight eggs ; two spoonfuls 
of baking-powder. 



84 EECIPES. 

Italian Cream. — One quart of cream reduced by one pint of milk, 
and set on ice to cool. Beat the cream and milk with a good egg- 
beater fifteen minutes thoroughly. Dissolve two ounces of gelatine in 
a gill of water, and strain it through a fiaunel bag into the cream. Add 
two cups of sugar and flavor, if desired, with lemon or vanilla. Stir 
briskly for three or four minutes ; pour into serving-dishes and set on 
ice to cool. 

Cookies. — One cup of butter ; two of sugar ; half a cup of milk ; 
four eggs ; two teaspoonfuls of baking-powder ; half a nutmeg. As 
little flour as possible, and roll out. 

Sponge Cake. — Six eggs ; the weight of sis eggs in sugar, and the 
weight of four in flour, with lemon extract, or a little grated lemon- 
peel ; a little salt, and a spoonful of baking-powder. 

^ Delicate Cake. — When making cocoanut-custard use the whites 
of the eggs as follows : One cup of white sugar ; five table-spoonfuls of 
butter ; whites of six eggs ; one teacup of sweet milk ; three cups of 
prepared flour, or to the same quantity of common flour add one tea- 
spoonful of soda, and two of cream-of-tartar sifted in the flour. Flavor 
with orange, lemon, or vanilla. 

Note. — So says Mrs. Beechor : " We would substitute a teacupful of sweet, rich 
cream, instead of the milk and butter. Also, cream-yeast instead of prepared flour, 
or soda and cream-of-tartar." We <^i\v in this connection a recipe for cocoanut- 
custard, as the two can be more economically made at the same baking. 

V Cocoanut Custard. — One pound of grated cocoanut ; one pint of 
rich milk, and six ounces of sugar. Beat the yolks of six eggs and 
stir them into the milk with the nut and sugar. Put into a farina- 
kettle, or into a small pail which you can set into a kettle of boiling 
water. Stir all the time till very smooth and thick ; as soon as it 
comes to a boil take off and pour into cups. 

Ground Rice Cake. — Break five eggs into a stewpan, which place 
in another, containing hot water ; whip the eggs for ten minutes till 
very light ; then mix in by degrees half a pound of ground rice ; six 
ounces of powdered sugar ; beat it well ; any flavor may be introduced ; 
pour into a buttered pan and bake half an hour. 



MOLDED FAEINACEA. 

Arrowroot. — Take four ounces of arrowroot, one quart of new 
milk, and four ounces of white sugar. Set a pint and a half of milk 
on the fire, adding the sugar ; when boiling, put in the arrowroot, 
previously mixed till perfectly smooth with half a pint of cold milk, 
and stir constantly till it has boiled three minutes ; and pour it into a 
mold previously dipped in cold water. 

Barley. — Six ounces of Scotch barley ; three pints and a half of 
water, and six ounces of sugar. Steep the barley twelve hours ; 
drain it, and pour the water, boiling, upon it ; stew quickly in the 
oven in an earthenware jar, covered, till perfectly soft, and all the 
water is absorbed ; when about half boiled enough, add the sugar, and 



RECIPES. 85 

a few drops of pure lemon juice ; pour it into a mold, and let it stand 
to set. When boiled quickly, tlxe above quantity requires two hours 
and a half, and is a much better color than when it is longer in prep- 
aration. 

Molded Rice. — Take eight ounces of rice and one and a half pints 
of milk. Wash, and swell the rice in the milk, till the whole of 
the milk is absorbed and the rice thoroughly softened ; then pressing 
it into a mold or basin for half an hour, with a weight upon it, 
serve it, turned out, with preserved or stewed fruit. 

Molded S.-\.go. — Take five tablespoonfuls of sago; one-fourth 
pound of sugar, and a little pure lemon juice. Steep the sago a quar- 
ter of an hour in half a pint of cold water. Pour on it one and a 
half pints of boiling water, and boil the whole in an earthen vessel in 
the oven about one hour, occasionally stirring it. Pour into molds or 
basins, and let it stand. When cold, turn it out, and serve Avith 
stewed fruit. 

Sago with Fruit. — Take four ounces of sago ; half a pint of 
raspberry and currant juice (strained), and six ounces of loaf sugar. 
Wash the sago and steep it one hour in cold water ; strain off the water ; 
add the juice and boil gently a short time, stirring it occasionally, and 
adding the sugar ; when clear, pour it into a mold ; let it stand 
twelve hours, and pour it on a flat dish. 

Tapioca. — Take three ounces of tapioca, two ounces of ground 
rice, one pint and a half of milk, and eight drops of almond-iiavor. 
W^ash the tapioca in water two or three times ; mix with the ground 
rice ; add half a pint of cold milk, and let it remain thirty minutes ; 
then add the remainder of the milk, and simmer it half an hour, 
stirring well the whole time ; add the almond-flavor, and pour it into 
a mold previously dipped in cold water. 

Cracked Wheat. — For a quart of the cracked grain have two 
quarts of water boiling in a smooth iron pot over a quick fire ; stir in 
the wheat slowly ; boil fast and stir constantly for the first half hour 
of cooking, or until it begins to thicken and " pop up ; " then lift from 
the quick fire and place the pot where the wheat will cook slowly 
for an hour longer. Keep it covered closely, stir now and then, and 
be careful not to let it burn at the bottom. 

W^heat c<3oked thus is much sweeter and richer than when left to 
soak and simmer for hours, as many think necessary. W^hite wheat 
cooks the easiest. When ready to dish out, have your molds moistened 
with cold water, cover lightly, and set in a cool place. A handful 
of raisins added with the wheat is an addition. Eat warm or cold, 
with milk and sugar, or fruit. 

MISCELLANEOUS DISHES. 

A STORY is told of an old doctor who always emptied the odds and 
ends of every medicine lie used into a large bottle, and when he had a 
patient that he was in doubt about as to what medicine he needed, he 
always gave him a dose from this bottle. "Some one of the many 



86 RECIPKS. 

drugs will meet tlie case," said lie : so in tliis list of miscellaneous 
dishes, which were not properly classified, or were received after the 
foregoing portion of this work was in type, something will be found to 
meet the wants of the table when the good house-wife don't know 
what else to get. We shall commence the list with a recipe for 
making Dr. Heald's favorite bread. It was, so far as we know, 
invented by the Doctor and his good wife, and is much used in his 
Institution. We also add a few other bread recipes recently sent in 
by our correspondents : — 

Dr. Heald's Favorite Bread. — Stir the best white wheat meal 
into cold water, until the batter so formed can no longer be worked 
with the spoon. Then sprinkle meal upon your bread-board, and 
knead the dough thoroughly for ten, fifteen, or twenty minutes, as you 
have time, and desire the bread softer or harder. Work in all the 
meal you can while kneading. The more you knead it and incorporate 
air with it the lighter and better it will be. When sufficiently kneaded, 
roll out with the hands on the board into a cylindrical form two inches 
in diameter ; cut into pieces three inches long, and roll these into rolls 
a little shorter than your oven grate, and one inch in diameter ; place 
them on the hot grate, just from the range or stove, and bake in an 
oven, not quite so hot as for " Gems," twelve to twenty minutes. 
Break into pieces three inches long for table. We think this the best 
and sweetest bread that can be made. 

Coarse or Graham Bread. — No. 1, or fine Graham flour, makes 
the best bread. The sponge is made at the same time, and in like 
manner to wheat bread, except the water used, which is ten degrees 
colder, as coarse flour rises quicker than fine. The same propoi'tions 
of milk and water used. It is generally sweetened a little with sugar. 
When the sponge is added, make as stiff a batter as can be stirred 
conveniently. When light, mold into soft loaves. For this reason, 
it wants the hottest place in the oven. 

Rye Bread is made like wheat, with one exception — the loaves 
are made quite soft. As little flour as possible is used in molding. 

Corn or Brown Bread. — The sponge is made of unbolted rye or 
wheat. In the morning take four quarts of Indian meal, make a thin 
batter, using hot water. Let it stand half an hour to swell ; then 
pour in the sponge and one quart of molasses, three quarts of rye 
meal, or enough to make a stiff batter ; then put into covered dishea 
to rise. Bake three hours. 

Boiled Wheat. — Take good plump wheat ; pick it carefully, and 
wash clean ; soak over night in soft water, and boil in same water till 
softened through, which will require several hours. Rye or barley 
may be cooked in the same way. Serve with cream, sugar, and ripe 
fruit. 

Brown Bread. — Mrs. Susan Everett, M. D., sends the following 
froTn a lady who attended one of her courses of lectures. The author 
states that twenty-five years ago she attended a course of lectures on 
hygiene, and the lessons she then learned have enabled her to keep in 



BBCIPES. 87 

good health ever since. She sent this recipe with a loaf of delicious 
brown bread to Mrs. Everett during her course of lectures at Perth 
Amboy, N. J. We regret that we are not jiermitted to give the lady's 
name : — " We make our own yeast from hops of our own raising. The 
vine makes a delightful shade for the south end of our bade porch, 
and from that vine we gather, the last of August, hops enough for our 
own use during the year, and also for som^ of our friends. To three 
pints of water i)ut a handful of hops, and boil tlvem half an hour ; put 
into 3'our yeast pot or jar six tablesi)oonfuls of tlour and one teaspoon- 
ful of salt ; set your jar near the kettle, and dip the hop tea into the 
jar through a sieve or colander. When you have strained enough to 
wet all the flour, stir it well, and then strain upon it the rest of the 
hop water. The mixture should be about the consistency of batter 
for griddle cakes. When it is cool, not cold, stir in a gill of good 
yeast ; set it in a warm place ; do not cover it close. When fermented, 
put it in a cool place, and cover close. This is the yeast from which 
we set,our wliite bread at evening. The next morning we take a good 
handful of the dough; put it in a large yellow bowl, and add a tea- 
spoonful of salt, a half cup of molasses, a pint of lukewarm water, 
and enough Graham flour, making a dough softer than for white 
bread ; set it to rise and bake. We do not knead this bread. This 
makes two loaves. Brown bread is not improved by sugar." 

Anger's Method op Making Gems. — " To the Editor. — By your 
special request I will here state my experience in regard to the method 
of making the Graham gems. The flour is the principal ingredient, 
and on it depends chiefly the success of the baker ; it must necessarily 
be of the very best kind, made of tlie best winter wheat, and be pos- 
sessed of the qualities commonly known as"di'y and strong." The 
treatment varies according to the qualities of the flour. If the flour is 
of the kind -described above, the dough can be baked immediately ; 
but if the flour be moist the dough must be allowed to stand in a warm 
place for at least four hours, in order to obtain a palatable article. The 
German hygienists allow the dough for their unleavened bread to 
stand six hours, in every case ; this is, however, unnecessary, provided 
the flour is of good quality. "The next in order is a good baliing oven, 
one that is capable of baking equally as well from the top as from the 
bottom; it is ditficult to state the exact amount of heating required, as 
some ovens are more easily heated than others ; sufiice it to say that 
a quick oven is necessary, and that the glaring heat, which always ac- 
companies a freshly-heated oven, be allowed to pass away before bak- 
ing the gems, as they are very apt to blister on the top, especially the 
water gems. In mixing the dovigh take blood-warm milk or water, 
adding the flour and beating thoroughly for at least five minutes. It ia 
better to retain some of the milk or water one intends to use, making 
the dough slightly thicker, beat it well, and then add the remaining 
milk. 13y this method the dough becomes more thoroughly mixed, 
and is entirely freed of the small lumj)S that are so difficult to get rid 
of. If milk is used, make the dough thick enough, so that it can be 
spooned out comfortably ; but for water gems it must be made some- 
what thicker. 

" The pans used in baking the gems are of oval shape, measuring two 



88 KECIPES. 

and a half by one and a half inches ; eight of these unite in making 
one pan ; there are also some pans made of tin, but as the cast iron 
pan retains the heat longer it is tlie best. 

"If the dough is ready and the oven heated, then put some of the pans 
in the oven and allow them to become quite hot ; take one out, grease 
it with a clean rag dipped in butter, and drop the dough in the pan 
with a large spoon ; return the pan quickly to the oven. If the pan 
is too hot, so that when greased the butter is burned, allow it to cool 
before using it, as the gems will be apt to stick to the pan and be 
burned. After eight or ten minutes they must be looked after, and if 
they are getting too brown must be put in a cooler place and allowed 
to bake for another ten or fifteen minutes more. They ought not to 
be taken out before they are thoroughly baked, as they will become wet 
and doughy if taken out too soon, and no amount of after baking can undo 
this. They may be eaten hot with impunity, a quality not possessed 
by any other form of bread. 

"L. F. J. Akger." 

[We can testify from personal knowledge that Mr. Anger's gems 
are unsurpassed in delicacy and perfection by any we have ever 
tasted. — Ed.] 

Rusk. — Beat three eggs thoroughly, then beat in a cupful of sugar, 
and a little flavoring to the taste of lemon or nutmeg. Add a tumbler 
and a- half of rich cream which has first been mixed with a little flour ; 
use no more flour than will give it consistency enough to be molded. 
Let it rise all night or all day, and when very light put it upon tins to 
rise again before baking. Bake in a quick oven fifteen or twenty 
minutes. 

foMATO Custard. — This is said to be a beneficial diet for consump- 
tives. It is made by straining finely stewed tomatoes through a coarse 
sieve, and adding two pints of milk which has been scalded and cooled, 
and one pint of tomatoes, for four eggs, and one teaspoonful of sugar. 
Bake in small cups quickly. 

Cooking Raisins. — It is well to cook before putting them into pies, 
cakes, or puddings. Soaking is not sufficient. Steaming them by 
pouring a small quantity of boiling water among them in a tightly 
closing dish, and allowingthem plenty of time to cook before opening, 
is a good plan. When raisins are rightly cooked before using, they 
are plumper and more palatable, and can be eaten without injury by 
most dyspeptics. 

Tomato Pie. — Peel and slice ripe tomatoes and lay them on dishes 
as for apple pie. Sprinkle on a little flour ; and sugar to suit the 
taste. Bake with two crusts, in a moderate oven. This as well as 
green apple pie can be made with one crust only, by stewing the to- 
niatoes or apples before putting into pies. 

Barley Pudding. — Prepare a half pound of pearl barley, one 
quart of new milk, and six ounces of sugar. Put the barley in fresh 
water, and let it steep twelve hours ; pour the water from it, add the 
milk, sugar, and a small salt-spoonful of salt, and bake it in a slow 
oven. If a richer pudding be required, take it out of tlie oven when 



EECIPES. 89 

nearly done, stir in two ounces of butter, four well beaten eggs, a 
little flavoring, or any suitable seasoning ; return it to the oven in a 
buttered dish, and bake it one hour. 

AsPAKAGUs AND ToAST. — Asparagus, the best of the greens. "Wash, 
pin up in a cloth, and boil gently in a little pure water about twenty 
minutes. It goes well with samp and potatoes, without condiments, 
but some people will not be content without dressing. The least ob- 
jectionable dressing is the white sauce — milk thickened with wheat- 
meal and slightly salted. " Asparagus toast" is made by cutting wheat- 
meal biscuit into thin slices, dipping in hot milk, spreading on a plat- 
ter, laying the boiled asparagus on it, and pouring over it the white 
sauce. "Asparagus peas" are prepared by just cutting into bits the 
tender part of the raw asparagus, boiling in just water enough to 
cover it until done, skimming out, dishing, and pouring over it the 
white sauce. 

Gravy for Children. — For a pint of gravy you want a large 
spoonful of flour, stirred smoothly into half a teacup of the cold milk. 
Let the milk be boiling when this is added, and kept constantly stir- 
ring, or the gravy will be lumpy. If cream is used instead of milk 
no butter is necessary. The milk should be stirred while coming to 
the boil to keep it from burning. It is less likely to burn if a little 
butter is melted in the spider before pouring in the milk. Add a little 
salt. For bread and potatoes it is better by far than meat gravy, and 
not only palatable and wholesome, but nutritious. 
^ Oatmeal Jelly. — A very delicate breakfast-dish can be made of 
"oatmeal jelly." Soak half a pint of good oatmeal over night in one 
and a half pints of water. lu the morning drain off the water through 
a sieve, adding to it one and a lialf pints hot water, and put it to boil 
over a quick fire. Stir till it boils, then set it back and let it simmer 
ten minutes. Turn it into molds, and in fifteen minutes it will be 
set sufficiently to turn out into saucers, and will be warm enough to eat. 
Serve at once, without trimming, or with a little milk or sweet- 
ened fruit-juice. The soaked meal that is left can be utilized in 
batter-biscuit, or corn-meal mush, or made into a porridge by itself. 
In the latter shape it is bland, and peculiarly suitable for invalids who 
have not yet learned to like oatmeal. These preparations are in no 
way better than the whole oatmeal, excepting for variety. 

ToM.\TO Soup. — To make one gallon, take three quarts of good beef 
stock ; one medium-sized carrot ; one medium-sized turnip : one beet ; 
one small onion. Peel and cut these up in small pieces ; then add 
three (piarts of best fresh tomatoes, and boil for an hour. Strain 
through a sieve ; then put five ounces of butter in a saucer ; heat it 
to a light brown ; now, take it off the fire, and add, while hot, three 
table-spoonfuls of flour. Put in tlie boiled tomatoes, and season to 
your taste. Add one dessert-spoonful of sugar. Put it on the fire and 
stir it till it boils. Let it boil for five minutes, skimming it the 
while. It is now ready for the table. More sugar and flour can be 
added, if necessary. 

Use for Cold Mush. — A good way to use cold mush of any kind, 
either oatmeal, Graham, or Indian. After taking off the skin which 



90 ' RECIPES. 

forms, or any part ■wliicli may be dry, mix a little milk with 
the musli to soften it ; then work in Graham or middlings till you can 
make the dough up into balls as large as a black walnut, and bake on 
the grate in a moderately quick oven. 

Boiled Rice. — Wash and drain off one pint of good new rice ; put 
into a covered saucepan with one quart of boiling water. Boil briskly 
for five or ten minutes, or until tlie water is mostly absorbed ; then 
set on one side of the stove, and let it steam steadily fifteen or twenty 
minutes. Keep closely covered all the time, and do not stir it at all 
after it begins to boil. The Southern people, who know both how to 
cook and to eat rice, never allow the lid to be removed while the steam- 
ing isgoing on ; perhaps just lifting one side of the cover to peep in, 
and see that it does not burn. When done just right, every grain will 
be swelled to its utmost, and bursted open. To be eaten as a veget- 
able, or with cream or maple syrup. 

Oatmeal Mush. — Julia Colman, who has charge of the cooking of 
the Hygienic Hotel, No. 13 & 15 Laight Street, New York, hands us 
the following method : 

"To three quarts of boiling water add one level teaspoonful of 
salt and one quart of good oatmeal, stirring while the latter is poured 
in slowly. Let it stand where it will boil gently, and stir it occasion- 
ally for ten minutes, or until the meal is evenly diffused through the 
water. Then cover close, and place where it will barely simmer for 
one hour. Do not stir it during that time. Serve warm, messing it 
as little as possible. 

Hygienic Plum Pudding. — This is from the Dietetic Reformer : 
"Put together in a basin some currants and sultana raisins that have 
been well washed and dried ; add wheat-meal fiour in proportions pre- 
ferred, whether for a plain pudding or more fruit ; stir in gradually 
cold filtered rain-water, beating the mixture well ; make it the usual 
consistency of plum-pudding ; bake in a well-butt«red dish, or boil 
several hours in a cloth. To suit some tastes, add a little sugar, 
candied peel, and grated lemon peel." 

A Delicious Cracker. — A delicious and wholesome cracker. — Take 
equal parts " middlings" and Graham flour. Wet with new or sweet 
milk, and knead rather stiff. Work it a good deal on the board ; then 
roll out to one quarter of an inch in thickness, and cut out in dia- 
monds or squares ; prick them, and bake in a quick oven. Bake best 
right on the grates. 

Mixed Gems. — Take a half-pint of corn-meal, pour boiling water 
upon it, enough to wet it ; then cool with skim-milk to the consistency 
of pancake batter ; and thicken with equal parts of "middlings" and 
Graham flour ; to be baked the same as gems, only not so quickly. 

Quaker Mince Pies. — Chop fine a half-dozen of large bell-flowers 
or greenings ; add one cup of raisins, well cooked ; one cup of canned 
cherries, whortle-berries, or other fruit to suit the taste ; then a pinch 
of salt, and sugar or syrup enough to sweeten to the taste ; lastly, add 
a cup of sweet cream when ready to use. Bake with cream crust. 



EECIPES. 91 

Baked ou Steamed Indian Pudding. — For one quart of sweet 
milk take a half-dozen large spoonfuls of best corn-meal ; wet it with 
syrup, and pour the milk over boiling hot — stirring it meanwhile. 
Chop fine three or four large sub-acid apples, and stir iu ; steam or 
bake throe-quarters of an hour ; then beat an egg with a spoonful of 
sugar, and add a little milk, and stir in. 

New Way to Serve Egg Plant. — The vegetable egg Ave think 
has been undervalued, more on account of its improper preparation 
than for its demerit — the saturating it iu butter and lard being the 
greatest objection. 

Wife has this season prepared as follows : Peel and then cut egg in 
slices or pieces ; add water enough to boil soft, and salt to suit 
taste. When soft pour off water and mash it ; make a batter of flour 
and eggs (chicken) ; mix the whole together, and bake like griddle- 
cake. When the proper quantities are mixed it will make a nice 
brown cake, with no grease (except to keep free from pan), and 
free from the strong wild taste which is generally disliked. We think 
the egg is destined to become a more general article of food, especially 
among hygienists. So says H. M. Engle. 

Maple Syrup. — This is the most delicious of the sweets. Every 
family should have some. If given to children on oatmeal or cracked 
wheat for breakfast every morning they would thrive like calves well 
fed with milk. To make a good maple syrup, melt with one pound of 
maple sugar two pounds of best white sugar. It will not do to use 
the brown, as this is not clean enough. 

Tomato Gravy. — Scald, peel, and cut very fine, a pint of good, 
ripe tomatoes ; put into a stewpan, Avith a pint of boiling Avater, and 
steAv them one hour ; stir frequently to keep them free from the 
bottom, and to make them A'ery smooth and fine. When they are 
steAA'ed down to a pint, rub a large spoonful of flour AA'ith a lump of 
butter the size of a Avalnut, and stir into the tomatoes ; stir thoroughly 
till they are cooked, then pour a pint of rich, sweet creani into the 
middle of the thickened tomatoes, and let them become boiling hot be- 
fore you stir them ; then stir well together, and boil five minutes. Salt 
to taste. Cut a slice of broAvn bread, or split gems into four pieces, lay 
into a vegetable dish, and pour the tomatoes oA'er them. This is very 
nice AA'hen, well cooked, and all the ingredients are sAveet and fresh. 
Children who are fond of tomatoes like this modification of cream and 
gravy. 

Apple Pan Doody. — For a family of six persons use a tA\'o-quart 
tin or earthen pan. Use the best pie apples. Pare and slice the apples 
nicely. 1st. Place a layer of apples about an inch thick, season with 
a speck of salt and sugar. 2d. Put a layer of cracker crumbs half 
inch thick. Alternate a layer of apples and cracker crumbs until the 
pan is full. Bake one hour, and serve Avith cream or rich milk. — 
K. I. Greenings are the apples for pies and puddings. 

Baked Apples. — Select sound apples of one size — pippins or some 
other well-flaA'-ored apple — peel and core ; use a small knife with a 
narroAv blade, and take out the core of the apple from the blossom 



92 RECIPES. 

end — the core lies nearest to that part — do not go tlirougli, but make 
a cup, into wliicli pat a teaspoonful of sugar ; set the apples close to- 
gether in a deep dish, add a teacupful of water, put into the oven and 
balte. Sweet apples prepared in the same manner are very nice. A 
lemon cut in very thin slices, and a slice laid on each apple may be a 
desirable flavoring. 

Boiled Pears. — Take hard pears, wash, and remove specks ; bo 
sure that they are sound at the core ; put them into a fruit-kettle, 
cover them with water — at least a quart — and boil them slowly an 
hour ; then add a sufficient quantity of sugar to make a lively syrup ; 
boil half or three-quarters of an hour, and serve cold. 

Crushed Wheat. — This preparation of wheat is not yet generally 
in use by those who are in favor of farinaceous food. The whole grain 
is " crushed " in such a manner as to retain all its particles quite 
together. Nothing is lost or sifted out. It is made from good white 
wheat, and is very clean, and well put up in packages. It cooks 
more readily than the cracked grain, has more gluten, and has all the 
sweetness and Havor of the wheat. I cook it just as I do oatmeal ; hav- 
ing a quart or two of boiling water on the fire, stir in two handfuls of 
the grain — all I can grasp — for each quart of water ; boil rapidly for 
twenty minutes, stirring frequently to prevent its adhering to the bot- 
tom of the kettle ; then let it simmer over a slow fire for ten minutes, 
covered tightly. I like it better when cool ; the gluten forms a jelly, 
and when molded makes a handsome dish for the table. To be eaten 
warm a little more grain must be added when you make it. It is de- 
licious and wholesome with cream, light fruits, and sugar. 
/ French Honey. — Break one pound of lump sugar into pieces, put it 
into a pan, and add the yolks of six eggs, and tlie whites of four, the 
juice of four lemons, and the grated rind of two, and three ounces of 
butter. Stir this mixture over a slow fire, until it becomes thick like 
honey. It will keep a year, put into a dry, cool place. This is nice for 
a variety of tarts or shells. 

Jellies. — Currants and grapes make the best and cheapest jelly for 
home use. Select large, ripe currants, fresli from the bushes as possi- 
ble, pick out all the leaves or old currants, let the clusters remain on 
the stems ; weigh six pounds of the fruit thus cleaned, put into a stone 
or earthen vessel, add a pint of fresh water, then take a wooden 
masher and crush the berries thoroughly. I have a strong, thin linen 
towel sewed firmly into a poke, into which I put a pint or so of the 
crushed berries, wring and squeeze them completely ; emptying and 
filling until all the juice is secured, of which there will be about five 
pints. To this juice add five pounds of best brown sugar, putting the 
whole into a porcelain kettle over a good fire, stir slowly with a silver 
or wooden spoon, and let it boil fifteen or twenty minutes. By this 
time, if the fruit is fresh, there is no failure of the jelly. Then I put 
it vip in pint size, self-sealing glass jars for common use. It is, I really 
think, as cheap, and far more delicious for meats.than cranberries, and 
as a relish of fruit. It costs about twenty-five cents a pint, or pound. 
The best brown sugar makes the richest jelly, and with more uniform 
Buccess. If you want a delicate color, and more acid jelly, use white 



KECIPES. 93 

Bugar. Black currant jelly is considered very beneficial in diarrlicea, 
and other diseases of like nature. 

Grape Jam. — Slip the skins off from the pulps and put them into 
an earthen dish ; put the pulps into a porcelain kettle over the fire, 
cover them, and bring them to a boil, being careful not to burn them ; 
boil and stir them till the pulps are broken and the seeds are separated ; 
remove from the fire, and let the seeds settle to the bottom of the ket- 
tle ; then pour off the juice or strain it through a colander, and put 
back into the kettle ; add the pulps and their Aveight in best brown 
sugar ; simmer slowly, stirring frequently for an hour ; put up as you 
would fruit in glass cans. If you cook it long enough to keep without 
being air-tight, the flavor of the grape will be spoiled. 

Plums and late Cherries are excellent fruits for jams, light preserv- 
ing, and canning. Both of these fruits retain their own delicious flavor 
better if the seeds are left in. They are particularly relishable with 
farinaceous food. 

Jam and Jelly. — The fruit that comes from the vines or canes latest 
in the season makes the poorest jelly. If currants hang long upon the 
bushes, they lose most of their jelly -making property. They need to 
be used as soon as possible after gathering. One who desires clear, 
fine-flavored jelly will not squeeze the jelly-bag if it be of loose 
material. Fine flannel is best for this purpose, and when this is used 
some pressure is allowable ; but we wish to strain the juice not only 
free from stems, skins, and seeds, but free from all fine particles. 

Raspberry Jam. — One pound of sugar to each pound of berries, 
and nearly a pint of currant juice. Put the sugar and berries together 
in a pan over the fire, and with potato-masher, or wooden spoon, keep 
mashing and stirring them constantly to prevent burning. When they 
are well mashed, add the currant- juice, and boil briskly, still stirring 
it carefully. Just before it actually boils skim it well. Let it boil 
about three-quarters of an hour to bring it to the right consistency. It 
is best to put it up in cups, bowls, or fruit-jars, as it does not keep so 
well after being disturbed. Cover the cups with firm paper varnished 
with white of e^^, and pressed closely around over the edges of the 
cups. Jam should be kept in a cool, dry place. 

Grape Jelly. — Put the grapes in a jolly-pan with a very little 
■water ; simmer on the fire till quite soft ; then strain through a col- 
ander or flannel bag; when the juice is all run out, measure, and allow 
fully one pound of loaf sugar to every pint of juice ; boil till it 
jellies ; when it has boiled twenty minutes, try a little in a saucer. It 
should be watched for fear of boiling over. Common sugar may be 
used, but the jelly will not keep so long. 

Barberry Jelly. — Scald the berries on the stems, and squeeze 
them through a thin cloth or flannel. Take one pound of sugar to 
one pound of juice. Boil together half an hour. Try a spoonful of 
the juice in a teacup of ice-water ; if it sinks to \\w bottom in a solid 
form, the jelly has come — if not, boil a while longer. 

Barberry Jam is excellent if made by cooking and stirring with the 
berries a quantity of good sweet apples. Boil till the apples are 
thoroughly cooked and mixed, then can in glass cans. 



04 EECIPES. 

Baked Irish Potatoes. — Boil soft eight good-sized Irish potatoes; 
mash them, add two tablespoonfuls of butter and a pint of milk ; salt 
to taste. Put into a dish and bake half an hour. 

To Dress Sweet Potatoes. — Put two or three platefuls in the 
oven, bake till quite soft ; peel and put them on a tin sheet, and bake 
again for half an hour. 

Another Way. — Another mode of dressing sweet potatoes. Boil 
the potatoes until quite soft ; peel and rub smooth with a spoonful of 
butter and salt. Bake in a pan, and turn into a vegetable dish. 

Rice Cakes. — One pint of soft-boiled rice, a teaspoonful of butter, 
an egg, half a pint of milk, and half a pint of rice flour : salt to the 
taste. Beat all well together, and bake in patties. 

Corn Muffins. — To three pints of corn meal add a pint of tepid 
water, a teacupful of bakers' yeast, a tablespoonful of sugar, and a 
teaspoonful of salt ; mix all well together and bake in rings. To be 
mixed at night, for use the next morning, etc. 

Corn Dodgers. — One quart of corn meal, a little salt, and water 
enough to make the batter just stifE enough to make into cakes with 
the hands. Bake in a Dutch oven, on tin sheets. 

North Carolina Dabs. — One pint milk, two eggs, a tablespoonful 
of butter, wine glass of milk : scald the meal, and while hot rub in 
the butter ; beat the eggs very light, and add to the meal, stir in the 
milk and a little salt. Drop the mixture from a spoon upon a tin sheet, 
and bake in a moderate oven. 

Muffins. — One pint of milk, one dessert spoonful of butter, two 
eggs, half gill of yeast, a little salt, and as much flour as will make it 
thick enough for a spoon to stand. To be baked in rings. 

Graham Muffins. — One pint of Graham flour, a pint of milk, one 
egg, a little salt. 

Loaf Rice Bread. — One pint of rice flour, three eggs, a spoonful 
hutter, saltspoouful of salt ; beat the eggs quite light ; stir in butter, 
flour, and salt. Dissolve a yeast powder in a little warm water ; mix 
well with the other ingredients ; pour into the pan and place it imme- 
diately in the oven. Bake nearly an hour in a moderate oven. 

Pan Journey Cake. — Half pint rice, dessert spoonful of butter, 
two tablespoonfuls of milk, two tablespoonfuls of fine rice flour ; boil 
the rice quite soft, and stir the butter in while hot. If the bread is 
wanted for breakfast, the rice must be boiled the night before ; and if 
wanted for tea it must be prepared in time for it to become cold before 
the other ingredients are mixed in. When ready to bake, stir in the 
milk and rice flour ; spread the mixture about half an inch thick, in a 
shallow pan well greased. Bake half an hour in a moderate oven. 

Okra Soup. — Cut up in fine slices two soup plates of okra, and put 
into a digester with five quarts of water and a little salt— at nine 
o'clock. At ten o'clock, add your meat ; at eteven, peel a soup plate and 



RECIPES. 95 

a half of tomatoes, and after straining add to the soup, through the 
colander ; then season with pepper and salt ; allow all the ingredients 
to boil until two o'clock, when it is fit to be served up. 

" Every-Day " Pudding. — Half a loaf of stale brown home-made 
bread soaked in a quart of milk ; four eggs, four tablespoon fuls of 
flour ; a little fruit, dried or fresh, is a great addition. Steam or boil 
three-fourths of an hour. Serve with the following sauce : 

Butter, sugar, and water, thickened with a little cornstarch, and 
flavored with lemon juice and rind. 

Fancy Disn. — Take half a dozen eggs, make a hole at one end 
and empty the shells ; fill them with blanc mange ; when stiff and 
cold take off the shells ; pare lemon rind very thin, boil in water till 
tender, then cut in thin strips to resemble straw, and preserve in su- 
gar ; fill a deep dish half full of jelly or nice cold custard, put the 
eggs in and lay the straws, nest-like, around them. 

A NICE Strawberry Dessert. — A nice dessert is made by filling 
coffee-cups loosely with strawberries, and pouring over them Graham- 
flour mush ; or instead, thicken sweet boiling milk to a consistency 
which is thin enough to fill the interstices between the berries, and 
yet thick enough to be firm when cool. Turn out and serve up with 
cream and sugar. 

Eggs without Boiling. — Drop eggs into a sauce-pan of boiling 
water, which remove immediately from the fire. Let them remain in 
the hot water five minutes. 

Beans without Pork. — Some families seem not to know that 
baked beans are delicious without pork, if properly cooked and sea- 
soned. Boil a pot of beans until they are cooked thoroughly soft, take 
half for one day's bean-soup, and use the other half a few days later 
for baked beans. If the beans are old drop in a small lump or half- 
teaspoonful of soda. When this water boils, turn it off, and supply 
its place with clean boiling water. After the beans have boiled in 
this an hour, we change the water again — sometimes three times, but 
never after the beans have begun to come to pieces. Set them where 
they will not boil too hard, and cook them four or five hours, when 
they are well softened and separated. Then we stir into this soup 
salt, and a cup of cream if we have it ; if not, a tablespoonf ul or two 
of good butter. We take out half of the beans (if we have cooked 
enough for two meals) before seasoning the day's portion, and some- 
times thin what is left for soup with hot water, and then put in the 
cream and salt, and boil and stir it all together. When we bake the 
reserved portion, we pour it into a large baking-dish or dripping-pan, 
stir in a spoonful of salt and a cup of cream, or cream 3' milk, and bit 
of butter, and bake an hour. I cannot believe that any one who tries 
it would prefer " pork and beans " to this. The most common mis- 
take in cooking beans is to cook them too little. This is the cause of 
their flatulent tendency, and such result may be prevented by thor- 
ough cooking. The frequent changing of the water takes away the 
strong flavor which is disagreeable to many. 



96 KECIPES. 

Spinach "with Eggs. — Wash the spinach leaves in several waters, 
and keep in cold water until time to cook it. Then put in boiling 
water enough to cover it, and add a little salt. Cover the pan, and 
boil the spinach briskly until the leaves are tender ; they will sink 
when done. Then press the water out, cut the spinach fine, put it in 
the pan, season with butter, and serve hot. Have the eggs ready 
poached, lay them on the spinach, and mix well with it. This is a 
delicious dish, and seasonable in the spring of the year. 

Gem and Cheese Sandwiches. — Toast good cheese lightly ; split, 
wheatmeal gems in halves, and spread between two halves, so as to 
come to the edges all round, a slice of the toasted cheese. It makes a 
wholesome and palatable lunch ; children are fond of it. Some ob- 
ject to toasted cheese. The principal objection to it is that it is gen- 
erally toasted too much. If toasted dry, it is as hard to digest as a 
very hard-boiled egg. Another objection is, that it is too often eaten 
as a dessert with rich pie and cake, instead of with the principal part 
of the meal. 



PART III. 



LIQUID FOODS 



Liquid Foods. — All wholesome drinks may be very ap- 
propriately called liquid foods, whether taken to quench 
thirst, or to convey nourishment to the blood. 

Water is the chief natural beverage of mankind, and most 
important of any liquid or solid food. Eighty-seven per cent. 
of our bodies is water. It v^astes with every breath and 
motion, and this waste must be restored with a new supply 
of several pints every day. It serves many purposes in the 
animal economy. 

1. It softens and helps to dissolve the solid elements of 
our foods, rendering them capable of being masticated, dis- 
solved, and fluid enough to flow in the veins and arteries. 

2. It maintains a proper bulk to both blood and tissues, 
rendering them mobile and round instead of dry and stiff. 

3. It holds in solution the solid parts of our food, while 
being moved to the places where they are needed. 

4. It dissolves the waste matter of the system, and trans- 
ports it out of the body. 

5. It takes up the superfluous heat of the system, and car- 
ries it away through the pores of the skin. 

6. It slakes our thirst, and cools the blood in warm 
weathei'. 

7. It may be the means — taken hot — of carrying heat into 
the system after exposure to cold. 

Indeed, there is no apparent end to the uses of water, and 



100 LIQUID FOODS. 

it is a great wonder that it has not always been used as the 
only drink ; and a greater wonder, that such substitutes as 
alcoholic beverages ever should have become popular with 
even a small minority of people. 

The Pueit'y of Watee. — The purity of water is a question 
of great importance. Such an article does not exist in nature. 
The nearest approach to pure water is made by distillation ; 
but even this is not absolutely pure. Even the best natural 
waters contain some salts of lime, magnesia, ammonia, atmos- 
pheric air, carbonic acid, and other substances, and many 
contain in solution, organic and inorganic matter enough to 
render their use objectionable. Water that contains much 
"lime and magnesia is called hard water, and conveys to the 
blood substances not wanted there. Water containing or- 
ganic matter dissolved from vegetable and animal substances, 
or poisonous gases dissolved from the air, is a very dangerous 
drink, and should be avoided. Water contaminated with 
miasma causes fever and ague, and it is a question if this 
disease is not caused more by drinking water than by breath- 
ing the air of malarious districts. Water contaminated by 
effluvia from cesspools, privies, and barn-yards, is a sure 
source of that dangerous malady, typhoid fever. There is 
no doubt but the unclean water about many farms and 
dairies spreads this disease in otherwise healthy towns, and 
causes mxmy deaths. 

Distilled Water. — In many states of health distilled 
water is an important aid to recovery. It can only be made 
by the use of apparatus, which is very troublesome and in- 
convenient. Druggists generally keep it for preparing medi- 
cines. Every household can prepare water which is almost 
as good, by boiling it briskly for a few minutes, and after 
cooling, straining it through a pan of charcoal, and keeping 
in a well-corked bottle in a cool, dark place. 

Water prepared in this way is comparatively pure and free 



SIMPLE BEVERAGES FROSI FRUITS. 101 

from insects, and Avill often be of great service to invalids, 
especially in sections of country where the natural water is 
impure. 

FiLTEKED Water. — A vessel to purify water by filtration, 
is one of the most valuable and necessary articles of house- 
hold economy, and no one who has a fine appreciation of the 
connection between that great blessing, good health and pure 
water, if he lives in a region where the latter is not usually 
good, will consider his domestic establishment perfect with- 
out some form of filter. There are many forms of them, 
and their expense is sliglit compared with the good they ac- 
complish. 



SIMPLE BEYERAaES FROM FRUITS. 

The juices of various fruits may be used with, water and sugar for 
making most delicious and wholesome beverages. 

Put a gallon of water on to boil, cut up one pound of tart apples, 
each one into quarters, put them in the water, and boil them until 
they can be pulped ; pass the liquor through a cullender, boil it up 
again with half a pound of sugar, scum, and bottle for use, taking 
care not to cork the bottle, and keep it in a cool place : the apples may 
be eaten with sugar as a sauce. 

Another way.— Bake the apples first, then put them in a gallon 
pan, add the sugar, and pour boiling water over, let it get cold, pass 
the liquor as above, and bottle. 

Apple Toast and Water. — A piece of bread, slowly toasted till it 
gets quite black, and added to the above, makes a very nice and re- 
freshing drink for invalids. 

Apple Barley Water. — A quarter of a pound of pearl barley 
instead of toast added to the above, and boil for one hour, is also si 
very nice drink. 

Apple Rice Water. — Half a pound of rice, boiled in the above 
until in pulp, passed through a cullender, and drunk when cold. 
All kinds of fruits may be done the same way. 
Figs and French plums are excellent ; also raisins. 
A little ginger, where desired, may be used. 

For Spring Drink. — Rhubarb, in the same quantities, and done in 
the same way as apples, adding more sugar, is very cooling. 



102 SIMPLE BEVERAGES PEOM FRUITS. 



LEMONADES. 

Lemonade from Preserved Lemon Juice. — Preserve your juice 
wlien lemons are plenty and cheap, by adding one pound of refined 
sugar to each pint of juice, stirring the mixture till dissolved, when 
it should be bottled. Put a teaspoonful of salad-oil on the top to keep 
out the air, then cork closely. When wanted for use, apply a bit of 
cotton to the oil to absorb it. To a goblet of water add sufficient of 
this juice to suit the taste. Every family should preserve lemon juice 
in this way for times of need. If hot lemonade is desired, use hot 
instead of cold water. 

Tea Lemonade. — To a cup of very weak cold tea add the juice of 
half a lemon. It makes a pleasant beverage for old people who use 
tea. It is not desirable for the young. 

Pineapple Lemonade. — Peel twelve fresh lemons very thinly, 
squeeze the juice from them ; strain out the seeds ; pour on the peel 
a little hot water ; let it stand a little while to infuse, covering closely. 
When cool, strain this water into the lemon-juice, adding a pound of 
loaf sugar. Put the whole into a decanter to be kept cool for present 
use. Use two tablespoonfuls for a glass of lemonade. To add to the 
delicacy of the beverage, add a slice of pineapple to each glass. To 
add to the appearance, add a thin slice of lemon. Cool, delicious, 
wholesome. 

Orange and Lemonade. — Peel one large fresh lemon and six fresh 
oranges. Cover the peel with boiling water, and let it infuse in a 
closely- covered dish. Boil one pound of sugar in a pint of water, till 
a syrup is formed, skimming o£E any impurities, strain the peel-water, 
add it to the syrup when cold, and add the juice strained, stir well, 
and add cold water till it makes a pleasant drink. These methods of 
making drinks are more troublesome than the common way, but the 
result in the end is more satisfactory. 

Common Lemonade. — Cut three large fresh lemons in very fine 
slices, taking out the pips. Add half a pound of white sugar and 
about two quarts of water. Bruise well together and stir, and it is 
ready for use. 

Hot Lemonade. — Hot lemonade is often desirable in winter, when 
the body has been exposed to cold and is chilly. It is made the same 
as cold lemonade, except by using hot instead of cold water. 

English Lemonade. — Pare a number of lemons, according to the 
quantity of drink you wish to make. Pour boiling water on one 
quarter of the peel, and let it infuse. Boil your sugar to the con- 
sistency of a rich syrup, adding the white of an egg whipt in. When 
it boils pour in a little cold water to stop it, then let it boil again, 
when tlie pan should be taken off to cool and settle, skimming off any 
scum that comes to the top. When settled, pour off the syrup into 
the peel water, now add the juice and as much water as is necessary 
to make a rich drink. Strain through a fine jelly bag. 



SIMPLE BEVEEAGES FKOM FRUITS. 103 

Lemox Whey. — Boil as much milk as you require, squeeze a lemon, 
and add as much of the juice to the milk as will make it clear. Mis 
with hot water, and sweeten to taste. 

Lemon Water. — Cut a fresh lemon into very thin slices, put them 
in a pitcher, and pour on one pint of boiling water. Let it stand till 
cold, sweeten to taste, and use. 

Milk Lemonade to keep a day or two. — Pare twenty-four large 
fresh lemons as thin as possible ; put eight of the rinds into three 
quarts of hot but not boiling water, and let it stand three hours. Rub 
fine sugar on the rind of the others, to absorb the essence. Put it in a 
china bowl, and squeeze the juice from the lemons over it, after which 
add a pound and a half of fine sugar. Now put the water to the 
above, and add three quarts of boiling milk. Mix and pour through 
a jelly bag. Use the day after made. 

SIMPLE DRINKS FROM VARIOUS SUBSTANCES. 

Ajierican Temperance Beverage.— Twelve lemons, one quart 
of ripe raspberries, one ripe pineapple, two pounds best refined sugar, 
three quarts of pure soft cold, but not iced, water. Peel the lemons 
very thin, squeeze the juice of all over the peel, let it stand a few 
hours, add the two pounds of refined sugar, mash the raspberries with 
half a pound of same sugar, cut the pineapple, after paring it, in 
very thin slices, and cover them with sugar. Strain the lemon-juice, 
crush the raspberries, press the pineapple, put the lemon-juice in a 
bowl, add the three quarts of water, add the crushed berries and pine- 
apple, stir all together till the sugar is dissolved and it is ready to 
serve. This makes a delicious beverage. 

Cranberry Drink. — Mash a tea-cupful of clean fresh cranberries 
in a cup of cold water. Boil a large spoonful of oatmeal and a slice 
of a lemon in two quarts of water ; add the cranberries and as much 
sugar as will sweeten to the taste. Boil for half an hour and strain. 

Egg Tea. — It is a common but injurious practice for women to take 
a cup of hot tea on an empty stomach when tired and exhausted. An 
egg broken into a weak cup of tea, well beaten and mixed with a 
glass of cold sweet milk, is much less injurious, and really nourish- 
ing. 

Tamarind Water. — Boil an ounce of tamarinds, three ounces of 
currants, and two ounces of stoned raisins in three quarts of water, 
until nearly a third has evaporated. 

Pure tamarind water is much used in fevers, and is considered a 
cool and refreshing beverage. It is made by dissolving the pulp in 
boiling water, straining and cooling, or it may be prepared with 
barley water and treated in the same way. 

Strawberry Drink.— Boil a pound of sugar in a pint of water till 
it makes a syrup. Add a pint of strawberry juice, and boil gently for 
an hour. Cool, and bottle in well corked bottles for use. Add water 
to taste. It is a delicious spring drink. 



104 SIMPLE BEVERAGES FKOM FKUITS. 

A very delicious drink may be made from canned strawberries, 
water, and sugar, for early spring use. This fruit is rarely canned, 
but is the most wholesome of any for early spring use before other 
new fruit can be had. The acid acts favorably in clearing out the 
system, acting on liver and bowels. 

Blackbekry Drink. — A delicious drink is made by stewing a pound 
of ripe blackberries in a quart of water, adding sufficient sugar to 
make the drink palatable, and pouring off the fluid. The berries 
may be eaten separately. An equally pleasant drink may be made by 
stewing dried blackberries, adding sugar to make it sufficiently sweet. 
The amount of water and sugar may be decided by the taste. 

Raspberry Drink. — Take fine red, ripe raspberries, crush them in 
a sieve, and press out the juice, to each pint of which add a pint of 
syrup made by boiling a pound of sugar in a pint of water, the scum 
being removed. When the syrup and juice are mixed, boil slowly for 
an hour, cool, bottle, cork, and seal. When wanted, dilute with water 
to the right consistency. A delicious drink is quickly and cheaply 
made by stewing dried raspberries in water, adding sugar to make the 
drink palatable. It can be made of fresh berries by crushing them in 
a bowl and adding water and sugar to taste. Children are generally 
fond of drinks made in this way, and the variety is almost endless. 

Cherry Drink. — Mash twelve or fifteen large sour cherries, stones 
and all, in a goblet, pour on water till the glass is two- thirds full ; 
add loaf-sugar sufficient to suit the taste. This is a cooling summer- 
beverage, and an excellent diuretic. Persons suffering with gravel in 
the bladder are often greatly relieved by this beverage, only it should 
be made very strong of cherry-juice for them. 

Plum Water. — Pour over half a pound of plums a quarter of an 
ounce of ginger (if approved), two quarts of water ; boil till pulped, 
strain, boil again, skim well, and bottle for use. Keep cool. 

Gooseberry Water. — Green gooseberries, served in the same 
way, make a good drink. The proportions are : gooseberries one 
pound ; water, one gallon ; ginger, one-half ounce ; sugar, three- 
fourths of a pound. 

Mixed Currantade. — Mash one pound of ripe red currants with 
half a pound of ripe red raspberries ; add a half pound of sugar and a 
gallon of cold water. Let it settle, and it is ready for use. If it is 
desirable to bottle it, strain. Dried currants and dried raspberries 
may be used, and so may currant jelly, if more convenient. 

Pure Currantade. — Press the juice from ripe currants, strain, 
add to each pint a pound of best white sugar ; add cold water to taste. 
It makes a delicious beverage. Dried currants may be used, and thus 
the drink made at any season of the year. 

A Cool Ginger Drink. — Ginger is used almost universally as an 
addition to many drinks. There are those who would not allow it in 
the stomach, still, as the root contains no essential oil, and is slightly 
warming and carminative, it is not particularly objectionable. Gen- 



SIMPLE BEVEBAGES FKOM FRUITS. 105 

erally it agrees "well witli most stomachs. The following receipt for 
a mild ginger beer will not be amiss. 

To six gallons of pure soft water put eight pounds of loaf-sugar, 
the whites of three eggs, well beaten, and three ounces best ginger. 
Powder the ginger finely, and mix with a little water before adding it 
to the mass. Boil gently for three-fourths of an hour, removing mean- 
time the scum that rises to the surface. Let it cool, add the juice of 
three large lemons and a table-spoonful of yeast. Now put it in a 
cask and bung it very tightly, and let it stand for about ten days, 
when it will be fit to use. 

Rhxjbarb Tea. — Boil two pounds of rhubarb stalks well sliced, for 
an hour in a quart of water, strain into a pitcher, add the juice of one 
lemon, and sugar to taste after it is cold. This makes a refreshing 
drink in the spring of the year. 

Apple Tea. — Peel, core, and quarter two pounds of apples, boil for 
half an hour in a quart of water, strain the liquor into a pitcher, add 
the juice of one lemon and loaf-sugar to taste. 

Dried Apple Barley Water. — Boil one pound of clean dried 
apples in one gallon of water for an hour. Boil a quarter of a pound 
of pearl barley one hour. Strain off the juice of the apples, add the 
barley water, put it into uncorked bottles, and keep for use in a cool 
place. 

Apple Water. — Cut some very tart apples fine, pour over them 
boiling water, and let them simmer gently for half an hour. Strain 
off the liquor and sweeten to taste. 

Fig Water. — Boil a quarter of a pound of best preserved figs with 
a half ounce of ginger in two quarts of water. When reduced to a 
pulp, strain off and bottle for use. 

Barley Water. — Boil half a tea-cupful of the very best pearl 
barley in a quart of water till it is smooth, then strain it off into a 
mug, add the juice of a large lemon and loaf-sugar to the taste. The 
barley water should be strained through muslin before adding the 
lemon juice. 

Toast and Water. — Fill a quart-pitcher with boiling water. Drop 
into it a slice of bread toasted very brown. Let it stand till cold. 
Remember, drop tiie bread in instead of pouring the water over it, 
otherwise it will be cloudy instead of clear and beautiful. 

Fruit Juices. — The juice of the apple and pear, says Mr. Knight, 
may be used to great advantage in preparing a beverage. He has fre- 
quently, he says, reduced it by boiling to the consistence of a weak 
jelly, in which state it has remained several years without the slightest 
apparent change, though intentionally exposed to variation of temper- 
ature. A large quantity of the inspissated juice would take up but 
little space, and the addition of a few spoonfuls to a quart of water 
would at any time form a delicious, wholesome, refreshing drink, free 
from all intoxicating properties. Its cheapness would be greatly in 
its favor. On sea voyages it would be a great luxury. We suggest 
experiments with it in the field of domestic economy 



106 ICES. 

Summer Beverages. — Take the genuine jelly of any fruit you like, 
dissolve it in water, sweeten to taste, and keep in a cool place ; or if 
you have the fresh fruit, currants, raspberries, strawberries, cherries, 
grapes, bruise them in water, strain and sweeten. Keep in a cool 
place, and use as needed. Such drinks on ice will keep for several 
days. 

Capillaire. — Take fourteen pounds of sugar, break into it six eggs 
with the shells. Stir into it gradually three quarts of water. Set 
it over the fire and boil it, taking oif the scum until only a light froth 
rises. Add one gill of orange-Hower water, and two or three drops 
of vanilla ; strain through a jelly-bag, and when cold bottle it, cork- 
ing tightly. A wine glass in a tumbler of water is very refreshing. 
You may add to it slices of lemon, pineapple, crushed currants, or 
strawberries, as suits the taste and season. 

Eau Sucre. — Water, with sufficient sugar to make it sweet, is a 
con^mou beverage in France, and there considered very wholesome 
and refreshing. Ladies generally take it before bedtime. It may be 
useful in some cases, but should not be used too freely. 

Grape Drink. —This is one of the most delicious and refreshing 
drinks ever devised by thirsty mortals. It is made of nearly ripe 
grapes pounded, loaf-sugar, and water. It is strained until it becomes 
of the palest straw-colored amber, and then frozen. Delicious drinks 
may be made from grapes by stewing with sugar and water. We 
leave the reader to use his or her own ingenuity in devising them. 
The fermented juice of the grape bears no comparison with these 
pure, simple, delicious beverages. 



ICES. 

Cream Sherbet. — Put the yolk of six eggs and a dessert-spoonful 
of orange-flower water into two quarts of cream. Boil it up once in a 
covered stew-pan, then strain it. Add three-fourths of a pound of 
fine loaf-sugar, and stir till dissolved. When cold set it in ice, or 
freeze same as ice cream. 

Lemon Sherbet. — Dissolve a pound and a half of loaf-sugar in a 
quart of water, take nine large lemons, wipe them clean, cut each in 
halves, squeeze them so as to get out both juice and some of the es- 
sence of the peel, stir into it the sugared water, strain and freeze 
same as ice cream. 

Strawberry Sherbet. — Take one pound of best ripe strawberries, 
crush them to a smooth mass, then add three pints of water, the juice 
of one lemon, and a tablespoonful of orange-flower water. Let this 
stand three or four hours. Then put into another basin a pound of 
best refined sugar, stretch over it a cloth or napkin, and strain on the 
Sugar the berries, squeezing out the juice as much as possible. Stir 
until the sugar is dissolved, then strain again, and set in ice an hour 
before serving, in small tumblers. 



MILK. lOY 



MILK. 

Milk is a liquid food in a mucli higher sense than water. A pound 
of new cow's milk contains : 

1. Six drachms or three-fourths of an ounce of sugar. 

2. Four drachms or half an ounce of butter. 

3. Six drachms or three-quarters of an ounce of cheese 

4. Two drachms or one quarter of an ounce of mineral salts. 

5. Thirteen and three-quarter ounces of water. 

Milk makes a most perfect food and drink for the infant. It is also a 
very important food for other than children. It is of great service to 
invalids and the convalescent. It is true there are some constitutions 
with which it does not agree. Where this is the case, the objection 
may generally be obviated by skimming off the cream before using it. 
Even skim milk is very nutritious; it contains nearly all the valuable 
nourishment of new milk except the butter. 

A Milk Diet. — Within a few years a milk diet has become a very 
popular prescription among physicians, they ordering patients to sub- 
sist on it for days or weeks at a time. In cases where the patient 
needs a good sustaining food without the risk of inflammatory action or 
excitement succeeding its use, a milk diet is perhaps the best regimen 
that can be chosen. This is especially true in all diseases affecting 
the respiratory organs, inflammations of the stomach, bowels, kidneys, 
and bladder. It is of benefit in cases of hemorrhage, and gout, and 
diarrhoea. In fevers it is much used. In convalescence from small- 
pox, scarlet fever, measles, typhoid fever, milk is often very service- 
able. I have found gems and milk very excellent after scarlet fever. 
Indeed, good home-made brown bread and milk is almost a perfect 
food, especially for feeble children suffering with scrofulous habit of 
body, mesenteric diseases, spinal affections, fits, taint of the blood. I 
even go so far as to say that all children would be the better for tak- 
ing one meal of brown bread and milk daily, and feeble ones should 
use it three times a day. 

In ulceration of the stomach or bowels, milk is very serviceable. 
The case reported in the Herald of Health for August, 1873, of Mrs. 
Sara B. Clase, is in point. After nearly two years' suffering of untold 
agony from ulceration of the stomach, she was cured by a milk diet. 
She began by taking a teaspoonful every hour, and adhering to it 
alone for nearly a year, except the amount was increased as the 
strength returned. The greatest fear is in taking more than the 
stomach in its weakened condition can manage. I commend a study 
of this case to all suffering from ulceration or cancer of the stomach. 

In diabetes an exclusive milk diet has been found to work wonders. 
It must be persevered in methodically and exclusively until conva- 
lescence is established. It is well known that in this ugly disease the 
great danger is that the starch of the food is converted into sugar, 
and as such passes out of the system without yielding any of its force 
to the body. Dr. Arthur Scott Duncan, of England, says, "the ra- 
pidity with which milk acta is truly surprising. Twenty-four Lours 



108 MILK. 

laeing sufficient to produce a marked change, tlie quantity and density 
of the urine suddenly falling, thirst and appetite disappearing, the 
skin becoming moist and perspiring, sleep improving." Dr. Karell 
reports two hundred cases treated by milk alone, among which were 
many remarkable cures. 

For the aged, mil)c, or bread and milk, offers advantages worthy of 
their serious attention. The great Professor Black adopted it for 
many years before his death, because he thought it ought to be the 
natural food of an aged man in his second childhood. He died with a 
bowl of milk in his hand, so quietly that not a drop was spilled. 

Dr. George W. Balfour has found an exclusive milk diet to be very 
beneficial in asthma after it had resisted other means of cure for 
years. 

Boiled milk is digested in two hours ; raw milk in two hours and a 
quarter. 

Choice of Milk,— Cow's milk differs greatly in quality, some being 
rich and other thin and watery. In choosing a family cow it is well 
to bear this in mind, and to select only those that are healthy and 
give the very best milk. They should also be fed on the best of food, 
and allowed pure soft water to drink. The practice of feeding cows 
on garbage, swill slops, distillery feed, and of keeping them confined 
in close, filthy, unventilated stables, is one which seriously deterio- 
rates the milk, and should ever be avoided. 

Those who live in cities cannot of course keep cows, and so they 
must depend on the market for their supply of milk. In large cities 
such cannot do better than to use condensed milk, if they can get it. 
It has been used in our institution for many years with very satis- 
factory results. In preparing it the animal odor is evaporated, and it 
can be made as rich as is desired, It may be diluted for babes if 
necessary. Of course we do not speak of the condensed milk put up 
in cans, but that prepared for supplying the market for immediate 
use. 

If condensed milk cannot be obtained, and you cannot keep your 
own cow, then insist on having the best article, and refuse to use that 
from distillery-fed cows, or that diluted with water. A little atten- 
tion to this subject will enable any one to secure a good article. It ia 
the laxity of purchasers of food in not demanding the best that makes it 
BO easy for the dealer to palm off adulterated and inferior articles upon 
thoughtless people. If the poor would do this, it would improve their 
own and their children's health wonderfully. The milk supply of a 
cityhas a great deal of influence for good or evil on the health of the 
children. In England, this question is getting to be a very important 
one. The Food Journal says that " perhaps the most serious and 
destructive change in the nutrition of the poor is their almost total 
privation of milk. Infantile sickness and mortality depend largely on 
this want." There the occupation of mothers in factories and work- 
shops deprives many thousands of infants of their natural food — 
breast milk. 

Prepaking Cow's Mn>K for Babes. — In this connection I wdsh to 
give explicit directions for preparing artificial human milk for babes. 



MILK. 109 

It is well known that cow's milk is far richer than human milk. It 
contains more curd, more cream, more mineral matter, and less water. 
Compare the following table with the one at the beginning of this 
paper. One pound of human milk contains : 

Sugar 4 drachms and 40 grains. 

Butter 3 " " 30 " 

Curd 3 " " 30 " 

Mineral salts 41 " 

Water 14 ounces and 41 " 

It may not be well known why cow's milk so often disagrees with 
babes. A principal reason is that in the stomach the curd forms in 
harder lumps and is not easily acted on by the gastric juice, whereas 
human milk forms a flocculent soft curd which readily absorbs the 
gastric juice, and is acted on by it with great ease. 

The question is how to modify cow's milk to make it suitable for a 
new-born infant ; it having been found to disagree in its pure state. 

There is in the first place too much casein, or cheese, in cow's milk, 
and the child cannot digest it ; to reduce it to the true proportion, 
nearly twice as much water as milk is necessary ; to be exact, it must 
be eighteen parts of water to ten parts of milk ; but this would reduce 
the quantity of butter also, without which the child would not thrive. 
The milk to be diluted must therefore contain more butter than ordi- 
nary milk, which must be obtained by setting aside, say, three quarts 
of milk, and at the end of four or five hours remove the upper quart ; 
the upper third of any quantity of milk containing fifty per cent, more 
butter than the ordinary milk of the cow. The same result can be 
obtained by taking the " strippings," or latter part of the cow's milk- 
ing. This milk, when diluted with one and a half parts water, and 
properly sweetened, resembles ordinary human milk. 

Various Dilutions for various Ages. — Mother's milk for new- 
born babes is so peculiar as to have got a special name, colostrum. It 
gradually loses these peculiarities. For colostrum, or milk prepared 
for the first two weeks of a child's life, must contain more butter — the 
upper eighth, instead of the upper third, must be used. From two 
quarts of milk, which has stood four or five hours, skim off carefully 
half a pint ; or the last tenth of milk just stripped from a cow. For 
example, if a cow gives five quarts, the last pint may be used. Thia 
milk must be largely diluted, with water, according to the following 
schedule. 

SCHEDULE. 

Whole 
Agk. Milk. Water. Quantitv. 

Gills. Gills. Gills. 

2 to 10 days U 3^- 4^ 

10 to 20 days If 4^ 6 

20 to 30 davs 2^ 6 8i 

1 to 1^ months 3 6f- 9| 

1 to 3 months 3^ 7 10^ 

2 to 2i months 4 7i Hi 



2i to 3 


3 


to 34 


3^ to 4 


4 


to 4i 


4i to 5 


5 


to 6 


6 


to 7 


7 


to 8 


8 


to 9 


9 


to 10 


10 


to 11 


11 


to 12 



110 MILK. 

Whole 
Abe. Milk. Watbb. Quantity. 

Oills. Gills. Gills. 

montts 4J 7^ 12 

months.... 5 do 12^ 

months...* 5 do 13 

months 6 do 13^ 

months 6|^ do 14 

months 7 7 14 

months 7 7 14 

months 8 6 14 

months 8^ 6 14^ 

mouths 8^ 6 14i 

months S^ 6^ 14^ 

mouths 9 5^ 14^ 

Eight large spoonfuls are about a gill. 

Eegux,ations of the Quality op the Milk. — If the milk be too 
strong, indigestion will follow, and the child will lose instead of gain- 
ing strength. When particles of casein, or curd, pass through his 
bowels unaltered, a milder quality or lower grade should be substitu- 
ted. A feeble child of six months may require the food suited to a 
vigorous child of six mouths. For constipation, increase the richness 
of the milk, put in more cream. In cold weather, or if milk is kept 
on ice, it may stand an hour or two longer before the upper third is 
removed ; or the upper fourth maybe taken; or set five quarts instead 
of three to get one quart. 

The water used in diluting milk should not be hard ; nor should it 
be boiled. Add it to the milk, and heat it by putting the bottle in 
warm water. 

Sweetening. — Use loaf sugar enough to make it as sweet as un- 
diluted new milk, a teaspoonful to a quart. If too sweet, it will cloy 
the appetite, and not enough food will be taken. 

Temperature. — The milk should be heated to one hundred de- 
grees Fahrenheit ; test it once, and try it on the cheek ; which should 
regulate it subsequently. 

Quantity. — For the first ten days, about one to one and a half 
pints a day should be given ; before the end of the first month the 
child will take more than a quart daily ; at the age of three months 
he may require two quarts daily. After that time the quality will 
change more than the quantity. The child will need half a pint at 
a time every three or four hours, which should be sucked in about 
ten minutes, and he will pass six or eight hours at night without 
feeding. 

The bottles should be annealed by being put into cold water and 
boiled three or four hours, and the most scrupulous care observed in 
cleaning them. 

We have made out a scale of dilutions for one year, but the mother 
may, after the child is six months old, find it necessary to use more 



MILK. Ill 

milk and less water, in which case she will dilute less. If the child 
manifests symptoms of malnutrition on this food, it is evident that its 
food should be rendered more nourishing. We are indebted to Dr. 
Corson for the demonstration of the practical utility of beginning our 
trials with pure cow's milk, since the principal inconvenience which is 
found to occur is the regurgitation of a part of if; while, on the other 
hand, the infant runs the risk of starvation, or at least of numerous 
diseases, before any notice is taken of the deficiently nutritious 
quality of milk and water. If he succeeds in his object " of directing 
attention to the fact that many thousands of children annually die 
prematurely from want of food," he will have accomplished a great 
work ; but if he proposes to give all children pure cow's milk, with- 
out reference to its agreement or disagreement with their stomachs, 
he will have fallen into the same error with those who confide ex- 
clusively in milk and Avater. 

Oatmeal Milk. — I cannot help in this connection printing the fol- 
lowing letter from one of my correspondents, regarding oatmeal milk 
for young children ; which I am sure will help some mother to rear 
to health a child when she might otherwise fail. I may add, however, 
that it should not be used before the babe is three or four months 
old, and then a gradual substitute for the breast. She says : 

" When my baby was five months old, for the sake of my own 
health, I weaned him from the breast. I gave him cream and water, 
with a little sugar. In two weeks' time his bowels were so consti- 
pated that I fully realized that some change must be made in the 
food. I, therefore, made oatmeal gruel by boiling oatmeal in about 
twice the usual quantity of water for an hour and a half or two 
hours. When properly cooked, I poured it through a fine sieve. The 
part which passed through was, when cold, of the consistency of jelly. 
Then, in a quart cup, I mixed one half pint of thin cream and oatmeal 
gruel — about one gill of each — added one teaspoonful of white sugar, 
and filled the measure nearly full of boiling water. This food he 
relished, and in every way it agreed with him ; and if there ever was 
a child that grew any faster than mine did when fed with oatmeal and 
milk, I think it would be a wonder. People would say : ' How your 
baby grows,' and in the same breath (when I told what his food was), 
would say : ' Why, you'll starve him ! ' But by putting in less water 
1 found it was too hearty, causing him to vomit ; and once in possession 
of the key to my child's health nothing turned me aside. 

" My child is now a year and a half old, his food is three parts milk 
and one part gruel. He is very large, strong and active, has twelve 
teeth, weighs thirty pounds, and in all the time has not lost an ounce 
of flesh, even at the most trying time — warm weather. 

" That I am enthusiastic in regard to oatmeal milk should not seem 
strange, and I wish that, of the many mothers throughout the land, 
those who find it necessary to provide other than the natural food for 
their children would try my recipe. They would find doctors' visits 
few and far between." 

Eecipe for Gruel. — One teacup oatmeal, two quarts of hot water. 
Boil two and a half hours. Strain through a fine sieve. 



112 MILK. 

I prefer this way to the phm of soaking the oatmeal in cold water, 
which I have tried, but find that the taste is not so pleasant. 

Skimmed Milk. — Skimmed milk, according to analysis, is not 
greatly inferior to new milk, except in the amount of butter it con- 
tains ; as will be seen from the following : 

100 parts new milk — water, 86 ; nitrogenous, 5.5 ; sugar, 3.8 ; fat, 
3.6; salts, 0.60. 100 parts skimmed milk — water, 88; nitrogenous, 
4.0 ; sugar, 3.8 ; fat, 1.8 ; salts, 0.8. 

The effect on Dr. Smith of eating one pint of new milk was to 
increase the exhalation of carbonic acid 2.26 grains per minute. It 
also gave an increase of air inhaled of 96 cubic inches in one min- 
ute ; skimmed milk, on the other hand, gave an increase to carbonic 
acid exhaled of 84 grains per minute and 21 cubic inches in the in- 
spired air. Much is said in these days regarding the food qualities 
of alcoholic drinks, but Dr. Edward Smith, in his experiments on the 
best brandy as food, found that instead of an increase of vital ac- 
tion by the exhalation of more carbonic acid and the inhalation of 
more air, that there was a diminution of both. In other words, vital 
action was diminished instead of increased, and this was the result 
with nearly all the alcoholic drinks tested. And in those cases where 
vital action seemed increased, it was in a very slight degree, not 
one-fifth so much as shown above in the use of milk. Ten grains 
of milk consumed in the body produces heat sufficient to raise 1.7 lb. 
of water 1° F., and this is equal to raising 1.346 lb. one foot high. 
Can alcohol consumed in the body do this? 

Cautions Regarding the Use op Milk. — While good milk is 
an excellent article of food for the young, the aged, and many in- 
valids, it may be the means of spreading dangerous diseases. That 
which is sent to cities may have received infection from the air of the 
dairy-house, and in this way scarlet and typhoid fevers sometimes 
be propagated. Bat a greater source of danger is in the water that 
the dairyman mixes with it. If the water is pure, of course the in- 
jury lies only in the less amount of nourishment it contains ; but if 
water is used from wells or springs not pure, then the danger is very 
great. In England numerous instances have come to light where a 
large number of families supplied by the same milkman have had 
typhoid fever, and on careful investigation it was found that the 
dairyman had in these cases watered his milk from a well-pump in the 
yard, into which there was a slight leakage from a drain. Through 
this leak had oozed the poisonous germs that poisoned the milk, and 
carried that most dangerous malady into forty-seven families, destroying 
one hundred and sixty-five persons. Thanks to the spirit of investiga- 
tion which sought and found the source of the contagion. Still an- 
other source of danger in the use of milk is where the child is nursed 
by a diseased mother, or one subject to fits of passion, or where the 
mother has been poisoned by food or medicine. We mention these 
things that all may be on their guard, and be able to avoid causes of 
disease that lurk in unsuspected and hidden places. 

Cream. — Cream is a liquid food of great richness, especially in fat, 
and pure would be too hearty to be used as a food to any great extent ; 



TEA. 113 

but mixed with milk it forma a very agreeable, even delicious drink, 
and for persons thin in flesh and run down in health it may often 
serve important uses, especially if it agrees with the stomach. Pure 
cream contains, 

Water 66.00 parts I Sugar 2.8 parts 

Nitrogenous 2.7 " | Fat 26.7 " 

A mixture of cream and milk and oatmeal forms a very nourishing 
diet for consumptives, and those with little animal heat, also for those 
who use little or no animal food. 

Buttermilk. —This liquid food is not much used by Americans, but 
the Germans regard it with great favor. It contains about as much 
nourishment as skim milk. It is poor in heat-giving qualities, but 
there is considerable nitrogenous matter in it. Here is the analysis : 

Water 88.0 I Sugar 3.6 

Nitrogenous 4.1 | Fat 0.7 

Salts 6.8 

It also contains lactic acid, which is believed to favor digestion. In 
some forms of disease a buttermilk diet is found to be serviceable. 
It is better adapted to the fat than the lean, and to those who have a 
superabundance of animal heat than to those who suffer with cold feet 
and hands and languid circulation. 

TEA. 

So much has been written on the use of tea, pro and con, that 
little new can be said. Nevertheless there are some points concern- 
ing this question not yet well understood. They are as follows : 

1. Tea is not nutritious. The milk and sugar put into the cup to 
give it flavor has a real value as a food. 

2. Nearly all teas, whatever their price or name, are about of equal 
value so far as their physiological effects are concerned. The higher 
priced sorts have, however, a much more delicate flavor, and for this 
reason will always be preferred. 

3. That tea should, when used, be weighed rather than measured, 
as some kinds weigh more to the teaspoonful than others. Oolong, 
for instance, weighs 40 grains to the teaspoonful. Congou weighs S7, 
and gunpowder tea weighs 125 grains to the teaspoonful. 

Then, too, the effects of tea are not well understood. 

1. Tea increases the amount of carbonic acid expired from the 
lungs. 

2. It increases the volume of air inspired, but not the rapidity of 
respiration, consequently it must increase the depth of inflation of 
the lungs. 

3. Tea tends to induce perspiration, especially if taken hot. 

4. Tea excites to increased action the muscular system. 

5. Tea powerfully excites the nervous system. 

The points last enumerated accord with the experience of a ma- 
jority of tea-drinkers, and if the subject were dropped here, the im- 
pression would be very favorable to the use of this beverage. There 
is, however, another side to be considered. It has been found that 



114 TEA. 

tea is not nutritious, andtliat it actually increases the waste of tlie 
system. From this it may be inferred that tea is not a good drink for 
those who are dyspeptic and nervous, or those in which the waste of 
tissue is already more rapid than the supply. Dr. Edward Smith puts 
it in this way : " Tea increases waste, since it promotes the transfor- 
mation of food without supplying any nutriment, and increases the 
loss of heat without supplying fuel. It is, therefore, specially adapted 
to those who eat too much, when the process of assimilation should be 
quickened, but is less adapted to the poor, the ill-fed, and during 
fasting." 

Dr. Smith also gives the following as the generally admitted effects 
of tea : 

1. A sense of wakefulness. 

2. Clearness of mind and activity of thought and imagination. 

3. Increased disposition to make exertion. 

4. Reaction, with a sense of exhaustion following the preceding 
effects and in proportion to them. 

Analysis of Tea. — The active principle of tea is a substance called 
theine. One hundred parts of tea contain : 



Theine 2.00 

Casein 15.00 

Gum 18.00 

Sugar 3.00 

Tannin 26.25 



Starch 0.75 

Fat 4.00 

Vegetable fiber 20.00 

Mineral substances. . . . 5.00 
Water 5.00 



The amount of thsine varies from two to six per cent. The chemical 
formula for theine is C". W\ W. O.^ + H'O. 

Pkactical Hints Concerning the Use op Tea. — The following 
hints concerning the use of tea may prove useful : 

1. Whoever uses tea should do so in great moderation. 

2. It should form a part of the meal, but never be taken before eat- 
ing, or between meals, or on an empty stomach, as is too frequently 
done. 

3. The best time to take tea is after a hearty meal. 

4. Those who suffer with weak nerves should never take it at all. 

5. Those who are troubled with inability to sleep nights should not 
use tea, or if they do, take it only in the morning. 

6. Brain-workers should never goad on their brains to overwork 
on the stimulus of tea. 

7. Children and the young should not use tea. 

8. The overworked and under-fed should not use tea. 

9. Tea should never be drunk very strong. 

10. It is better with considerable milk and sugar. 

11. Its use should at once be abandoned when harm comes from it. 

12. Multitudes of diseases come from the excessive use of tea, and 
for this reason those who cannot use it without going to excess should 
not use it at all. 

Tea and Sick Headache. — The following, from the Medical Inves- 
tigator, has an important bearing on the use of tea : " Dr. Gregg pub- 
lished an article in the Homoeopathic Quarterly on tea, as a cause of 



TEA. 116 

sick headache, worthy of the attention of those who suffer with this 
common malady. The doctor there alleges that this beverage is the 
cause of more cases of this disease than any other, if not than all other 
causes put together, and gives a number of instances where, after 
leaving off its use, persons who had previously been afflicted were 
exempt from further attacks. One evidence the doctor gives of the 
injurious effects of this agent is the fact that tea-drinkers are liable 
to have headache if they omit its use at the regular times of taking it, 
and the cessation of the pain on again resuming their cups. This 
latter, with many other facts contained in tlie article, have often been 
observed, not only on myself, but on others, for I had inherited the 
disease from my mother. It had been the plague of her life, as well 
as my own. We had both been not excessive but regular tea -drinkers ; 
and though she lived to be over eighty years of age, she was never 
exempt from an attack, of greater or less severity, for more than a 
few weeks at* a time, for a period of nearly or quite half a century. 
Knowing this fact, and that from my earliest recollection I had been 
similarly afflicted, I was content, when the pain returned, to relieve it 
with the appropriate remedies, with little thought or hope of ever being 
able to eradicate it. Some twenty years ago I had abandoned the use of 
coffee and green teas, using only the black and Japan. Pork, pastry, 
spices, acids, and most kinds of raw fruits were sure, if indulged in, 
to bring on an attack of my old trouble ; and this weakness of the 
stomach seemed to be gradually on the increase, besides a train of 
nervous symptoms, such as sleeplessness, palpitation of the heart, un- 
steadiness of the hand when writing, etc., gave me no little annoyance. 
After reading the article referred to, I concluded, some three months 
ago, to use no more tea, substituting in its stead hot water with a little 
milk. The result, for the first week or ten days, was much as I 
had anticipated, being, during the whole of that time, scarcely ever 
free from headache. At length the pain became lighter, and when it 
did return was of short duration. My nervous symptoms grew less, 
palpitation left entirely, my stomach became much stronger. I can 
now eat with impunity many things which for years had been sure to 
disagree. The headache now very rarely returns, and never with 
severity ; besides, within the past two months my weight has increased 
sixteen pounds." 

Tea. and Dyspepsia. — Where there is any tendency to dyspepsia, 
tea aggravates it, and many cases are cured by disusing it. Dr. Corfe 
mentions a cure of supposed cancer of the stomach, cured by the disuse 
of tea. Dr. Milligan mentions a person who could never use tea with- 
out experiencing a disposition to commit suicide. 

Tea-Dkunkards. — In closing what is to be said about tea, one word 
seems necessary in regard to tea-drunkards. Their number is legion ; 
they are of both sexes, but more of women than of men. Instead of 
using tea in moderation, or as an occasional beverage, they swill it 
down three or more times a day, in quantities that are incompatible 
with health. They are as much slaves to the teapot as the drunkard 
is to his bottle. They are tea-drunkards. Tea, in anything but great 
moderation, is a poison capable of ruining the stomach, enfeebling and 



110 COCOA AND CHOCOLATE. 

disordering the heart's action, shattering the nerves, and ruining the 
health aiid happiness of the victim. In few words, without holding 
that the use of tea is as bad as the use of alcoholic liquors, one may 
well believe that the total abstinence reformers have, in their red-hot 
zeal against rum, encouraged an indulgence in tea-drinking which will 
one day have to be fought against with might and main, to prevent 
the wholesale ruin of multitudes. A tea-drunkard may be defined as 
one who drinks strong tea several times a day, who depends on it 
instead of food and rest for strength, and who cannot go without it 
without bringing on distressing symptoms. 

COFFEE. 

The active principal of coffee is called caffeine. An analysis of one 
hundred parts of raw coffee shows the following to be its composition : 



Caffeine 1.00 

Casein 13.00 

Gum and sugar 55.05 

Fat 13.00 



Mineral matter 6.07 

Acids 5.00 

Wood fiber 34.00 

Water 12.00 



Caffeine is analogous to theine in composition and effects. 

Coffee produces effects very similar to tea, and the same general 
rules are applicable for its use. It, like tea, powerfully affects the 
respiration, increasing the quantity of carbonic acid expired and air 
inspired. Coffee differs from tea in its effects by increasing the rate 
of respiration and not its depth, in increasing the rate of pulsation, 
and in diminishing the action of the skin. Those who suffer with dry 
skin, or palpitation of the heart, or heart disease, are particularly 
liable to harm from the continued use of coffee in large quantities. It 
is more suited to the wants of the poor and debilitated than tea, and 
is more appropriate for the breakfast meal than afterwards. 

COCOA AND CHOCOLATE 

Cocoa and chocolate have, for their active principle, the obromine, a 
substance very similar to caffeine and theine. The formula for theo- 
bromine is C H^ N\ 0'^ 

The analysis of the cacao bean gives in 100 parts : 



Theobromine 0.56 

Cacao 6.61 

Cacao butter 36.95' 

Gluten 3.20 

Starch 0.55 

Gum 0.69 



Extractive matter 4.14 

Humic acid 7.25 

Woody Matter 30.00 

Salts 3.00 

Water 6.01 



Dr. Edward Smith, to whose work we are largely indebted for our 
knowledge of tea, coffee, and cocoa, says of the latter substance : "Its 
action is less exciting to the nervous system than tea or coffee, and at 
the same time it contains a much larger portion of nutritive material. 
Boiled in milk, it may produce a most agreeable and nutritious food, 
and for very many persons is greatly to be preferred to tea or coffee." 



cocoa and chocolate. 117 

Methods of Preparing Tea, Coffee, and Cocoa. 

Tea. — The tlieine of tea is without flavor. This depends on the 
aroma, which should all be extracted from the leaf. The dried juices 
of the leaf, on the other hand, should not be extracted further 
than to give body to the drink, otherwise it will be bitter and the 
aroma will be covered up or hidden. The best rule to secure the aroma 
and not too much of the body is to put the tea into hot water, and 
keep it at or near the boiling point for five minutes. If cooked longer 
than this the aroma will be dissipated, more theine will be extracted 
and the tannin, which makes tea bitter, will be in excess. The best 
water for tea is pure spring-water. It should be fresh and used im- 
mediately after boiling. After the tea is cooked it should be strained 
and kept hot till used. 

Coffee. — Soyer's mode of making coffee was to warm the powder 
over the fire first, then to pour the boiling water over it ; cover it closely 
for five minutes, strain it, and boil again for use. French coffee la 
made by adding a pint of made coffee to a pint of boiling milk and 
warming them both together, but not letting them boil too long. 

Chocolate. — Cut a cake of chocolate in very small pieces, boil a 
pint of water, when it is at the boiling point add the chocolate ; mill 
it off the fire till quite melted, then place it on a gentle fire till it 
boils. Pour into a basin and it will keep for ten days. When required, 
put a spoonful or two into fresh milk, boil it with sugar and mis well. 
Mill to a fine froth and serve. 

Cocoa. — It made from the ribs, boil a quarter of a pound of them 
in three quarts of water to two quarts and a half. The ribs to be 
Btrained after five hours' boiling. If made from paste or powder, use 
one and a half teaspoonful of cocoa to a cup of boiling milk. Sugar 
to taste. Or one and a half teaspoonful of cocoa, three quarters of 
a cupful of boiling water. Sugar to taste and fill the cup with 
milk. 

Conclusion. 

Some hygienists will find much fault that we have not condemned 
entirely the use of tea and coffee, but though we never use them our- 
selves, we have thought best to give the results of late scientific stud- 
ies on the subject, and such cautions regarding their use as will enable 
those who do use them to do so with as little harm as possible. If 
asked what is the proper amount of these drinks for each day, we 
should say, do not exceed one cup of tea or coffee, and at farthest two 
of cocoa or chocolate. 



PABT lY. 



PRAOTIOAL DIETETICS 



ANSWERS TO EVEE-RECUERING QUESTIONS. 



FOOD FOR DIFFERENT SEASONS OF THE YEAR. 

What changes sliould be made in our food at different seasons of 
the year ? 

Ans. — Our food should vary with the season of the year. As winter 
gradually gives way to spring, our health, comfort, and happiness are 
greatly augmented by diminishing the quantity of our heat and force 
producing foods, and substituting in their place, to a considerable ex- 
tent, green vegetables and early mild acid fruits. Even before early 
vegetables and fruits can be had, canned fruits and vegetables should 
take the place of the rich foods required in winter. Many people 
think they must be " physicked out" in the spring, but this is a vile 
practice wholly unnecessary. Good brown bread, milk, cream, fruits, 
and oatmeal as the staple articles of spring diet, with no salted meats, 
and little or no meat of any kind, will keep the bowels in perfectly 
liealthy condition at this season of the year ; whereas if ham and eggs, 
hot bread, superfine hot biscuits, stale potatoes, are the principal arti- 
cles of diet, there is no end to the suffering that may be entailed ; then 
as summer comes on, early fruits and vegetables should be still more 
largely partaken of. Strawberries should be used in abundance all 
through June — raspberries, blackberries, and cherries in July. In 
August apples, and soon after tomatoes, peaches, grapes, melons, etc., 
make up a list of fruits rich in fluids, opening, cooling, appetizing, de- 
licious, health-giving ; these with good brown bread, and gems with 
milk cream, oatmeal and fresh butter should, to a great extent, take the 
place of fats and higlily carbonized foods and meats. In very hot 
weather tlie fats should be almost discontinued. One will suffer less 
from the heat if this is done. Then as cool weather comes on, if neces- 
sary, there may be a gradual return to a more highly carbonized diet, 
and during winter it may be partaken of quite freely, especially in 
cold latitudes, and when much work is to bo done. Much sickness 
will be prevented by proper attention to the subject of wisely adapting 
our food to the season of the year and climate. 



122 PEACTICAIi DIETETICS. 

FORCE-GIVING FOOD IN SUMMER. 

But shall we eat no heat and force-giving foods in summer? 

Ans. — Yes. BroAvn bread, oatmeal, and fruits are all force-giving, 
but to a less extent than fats, yet sufficiently so for the requirements 
of the season, and those persons who have very much muscular work 
to do may use more freely force-giving foods in hot weather than those 
whose labor is sedentary and light. From experinients which we have 
seen tried over and over again, however, we are satisfied that even 
farmers in the hottest days of summer who are obliged to work in the 
harvest field can do more work, suffer less with heat, and incur less 
risk of sunstroke by following the rules we have laid down, than by 
using a highly carbonized diet of oils and fats. 

HAM AND EGGS. 

Do you think ham and eggs are objectionable in spring? 

Ans. — Eggs are allowable. Indeed, lightly poached and dressed on 
toast they make an excellent food, but ham is not a good article of diet 
for any except the lowest of human beings, and even for these it is 
not so good as eggs, bread, oatmeal, and milk. Eggs, however, do not 
seem to be relished with every meal for days in succession, and hence 
should be taken at intervals as the appetite tolerates them. 

DAILY VARIATION OF DIET. 

Should the diet be varied from day to day, or remain unchanged ? 

Ans. — The diet slioiild he varied in kind nndfoi-m quite frequently, 
though not necessarily every day. Even in health, the best viands 
when continued from day to day become unpalatable, and even nause- 
ous. An occasional change of diet, in short, is indispensable to a proper 
relish for food, and the maintenance of the appetite and good health. 

AMOUNT OF FOOD REQUIRED DAILY. 

How much food is needed daily by a healthy person ? 

Ans. — The amount varies greatly, for the following reasons : 

1. Great vigor, activity of the circulation of the blood, and the elimi- 
nation of worn-out particles increase the amount necessary. 

3. Great physical exertion increases the recjuired amount, and inac- 
tivity diminishes it. 

3. Cold increases the amount of food needful, while heat decreases 
it, but increases the amount of water needful. 

4. Rapid growth, as in childhood, increases the amount of food de- 
manded by the body, while ill health diminishes it for the time being. 

5. The amount of food required varies greatly with the assimilative 
power. As some steam-engines are constructed so that the same 
amount of fuel generates more steam than it would in other engines, 
so some persons can get more out of a pound of food than others, be- 
cause they more perfectly digest it. 



PEACTICAL DIETETICS. 123 

OVER-EATING. 

Do not people generally eat too much food ? 

Ans. — Many do ; but eating too much is not socotnmonas improper 
eating. If tiie food is wisely chosen tliere is not much danger of over- 
eating. Dr. Beard says, It is a fallacy to suppose that people, as a rule, 
eat too much, and that most of the diseases of the world come from over- 
feeding. The truth is that among all decent or civilized people, the 
tendency is directly the reverse. In our country, and cripedally in 
our large cities, far more are underfed than overfed. Throughout our 
land, thousands and thousands die every year from actual starvation. 
Some of these unfortunates are little children whose parents are too 
ignorant, or too poor, to give them what is necessary to sustain life. 
But many of them are adults, whom hard poverty, or sad ignorance, 
has forced into a habit of systematic though undesigned starvation. 
Day after day their stomach receives less nutriment than the system 
demands. Day after day the vital powers slowly fade, the strength 
grows less, the spirit becomes morbid, and the face wan and dejected. 
Disease now steps in, attacks and carries by force some important cita- 
del of the body, and death follows. The process is a slow one — some- 
times very slow — extending, perhaps, over many years, but it is often- 
times just as sure as it is slow. 

The latter remarks apply with great force to the poor of all large 
cities. With abundance all around them, they overwork and slowly 
starve to death. 

GUIDE TO PROPER QUANTITY OF FOOD. 

What is the best guide to the amount of food required ? 

Ans. — The natural appetite is the only guide. This should be aided 
by common sense and reason. In cases of disease our judgment may 
be called on to aid the appetite, to say, eat more or less as the case 
may require. 

VARIETY AT MEALS. 

Do you think it better to eat one or two articles at a meal, or from a 
number of dishes ? 

Ans. a wholesome variety is better than to eat only from one or two 
dishes, except in some kinds of morbid condition, when confinement to 
one kind of food may be necessary. 

BRAIN WORKERS AND THEIR FOOD. 

Do brain -workers require as much food as those who work with their 
muscles only ? 

Ans. — We do not know as this question has ever been decided by ex- 
periment, but we think from some observations we have made that 
they do require as much food, provided they take sufficient exercise for 
health. They should choose their food with care, so it may not oppress 
the stomach, and arrange their hours of eating so as not to let vigorous 
brain work come during the time of digesting a hearty meal. The 
changes of tissue in the t)rain during protracted thought are rapid and 



124 PEACTICAL DIETETICS. 

extensive, and the loss must be made good by an abundant supply of 
food. 

AMOUNT OF FOOD FOR MEN vs. WOMEN. 

"WTiicb eat the most food, men or women ? 

Ans. — Men eat more than women, when their work is of the same 
kind. It does not follow, however, that because men eat more that 
they get more strength from their food, for generally women have bet- 
ter digestive organs, and abstract more nutriment from the same 
amount of food. 

So, too, while men and women eat at the same table, it is observable 
that they do not eat the same quantities of the same dishes. Men 
eat more heartily of the force-giving foods than women do, probably 
because there is more demand for them. This is perhaps the only dif- 
ference. At a restaurant largely patronized by ladies, I have noticed 
that biscuit, tea, cake, ice cream, and delicacies were more in demand 
by women, and meats and hearty food by men. 

BOARDING-SCHOOL TABLES, STUDENTS' DIET. 

Do you think the students at boarding-schools are sufficiently well 
fed? 

Ans. — Generally they are not well fed. Boarding-schools, the world 
over, we believe, are generally thought to feed the youth who attend 
them on rather meager fare, though there are many notable excep- 
tions. Proprietors of these schools seem to have the matter of econo- 
my more at heart than the health of their pupils. They do not seem 
to know that growing boys and girls need to be fed as well as growing 
calves and colts, or pigs, but can get on with a small amount of food. 
We once knew a school that boarded pupils and threw in their tuition, 
for twelve to fifteen dollars a quarter of twelve weeks. How did they 
do it ? By half starving the boys and girls that lived in the house. 
White bread, hashed potatoes, or tough steak, with a trifle of sauce, 
was the daily bill of fare, with little variation. The proprietor, a 
Strong, hearty man, used to sit at the head of the table, say grace, and 
eat as fast as he could himself ; when through, rest his knife on the 
table as a notice to return thanks, and send all away. The result was, 
hearty, growing boys were half starved, and foraging on orchards and 
cornfields was always going on. 

We are so impressed with the importance of this subject, that we 
copy from the London Food Journal the substance of an article show- 
ing how the boys are fed ia a certain English school. We should 
modify it materially for this country. For instance, we should leave 
out the tea and coffee, and substitute milk or water or cocoa. For 
boys and girls, in this excitable climate, tea and coffee are much 
worse than in England. Wine and ale also should be left out, and 
less meat eaten. If a lunch be taken, it should be of fruit. Oatmeal 
and maple or other good syrup, or wheat and corn-meal mush should 
be added daily, and so should good home-made browia bread, and light, 
unleavened cakes or gems. No boy or girl should be under-fed. All 
desserts should be plain and nutritious. "Rich cakes and pies, and hot 



PRACTICAL DIETETICS. 126 

bread and biscuits sliould be omitted. With tliese Mnts, we commend 
the article, not as furnisliing an absolute guide, but as affording 
abundant hints for au improved system of feeding boys and girls at 
school. We also advise parents who send their children from home to 
school, to refuse to patronize any school that does not furnish a good 
table for the students. 

The notion so long prevailing, that students should eat but little, is 
utterly false, and has done harm. They should not stuff themselves 
at all hours with all sorts of bad food, but should eat abundance of the 
very best. 

The following is the article referred to : 

On School Dietaries. — In the neighborhood of one of our Midland 
cities is a school of some fifty boys. During some recent visits to this 
school, the singular healtluness and heartiness of the boys made me 
curious to learn exactly how they were fed. The following I ascer- 
tained to be the dietary : 

Breakfast (in summer at 8, in winter at 8.30) consists of abundance 
of milk, bread and butter, and cold meat. By way of a change now 
and then, eggs for a few days together take the place of meat. Before 
the foregoing, boys who like it have a small basin of bread and milk, 
or of Scotch porridge made with milk. The milk is new, and cornea 
straight from a farm adjoining the school-grounds. 

Lunch at 11 — Each boy has a small fresh roll of bi-ead, or a bun, or 
a captain's biscuit, if weakly, a tumbler of milk ; but, as a rule, noth- 
ing is drunk at lunch, dinner, or supper but pure water. 

Dinner at 1.30, always consists of two courses. 1. Two kinds of 
meats, viz., beef and mutton, with not less than two kinds of veget- 
ables, and of these a liberal supply. 2. Pudding, usually of fruit, 
fresh or preserved according to season, and always well sweetened. 
On four days of the week the meat is hot roast ; on one day it is hot 
boiled ; on one day steaks, cutlets, or made dishes are substituted for 
joints ; while the Sunday dinner always consists of cold beef, mashed 
potatoes or salad, and plum pudding. After dinner, some ripe fruit, 
as au orange or some kind of garden fruit, according to the season. 

2'ea at 6 p. m. — Tea, bread and butter, varied almost daily either with 
home-made plum-cake, or marmalade, or honey. Whenever procur- 
able, some salad herb, such as lettuce, radish, etc., is given at this 
meal, and always eaten with much relish. 

Supper at 8 P. M. (for senior boys only). — Bread and butter, or bread 
and cheese, or biscuit, or, where it seems needed, a tumbler of milk 
and a sandwich. 

No hampers of eatables are allowed to be sent to the boys from their 
friends, and no shops for the sale of sweets, etc., are allowed or acces- 
sible to the boys. 

This dietary seems to me so nearly what growing boys or girls 
ought to have, and so often what they do not get, even at their own 
homes, that it may appropriately serve as the text for a few remarks 
on the usual dietaries of public and private schools. I will begin by 
at once stating my belief — as one who was himself at a private and a 
public school, and who still sees a good deal of schoolboys — that either 



126 PEACTICAL DIETETICS. 

in quality, quantity, and variety tlie dietary of nearly every scTiool I 
have known is more or less defective. 

The usually unvaried breakfast of tea or coffee (and these fluids too 
often of a miserably thin description), with bread and butter, is a 
meagre meal for a boy who has to break a twelve hours' fast. It is not 
enough for the robust, nor varied enough for the delicate. A good 
basin of bread and milk, or milk porridge, should always be allowed 
as a substitute for tea or coffee ; and the latter, when preferred, should 
always be accompanied with some little extra, such as a bit of cold 
meat, or an egg— sometimes the one, sometimes the other, so as to 
secure the utmost possible variety. 

The fault of most school dinners is roughness in the cooking and 
serving, iusulficient variety in the form and kind of meat and veget- 
ables, and the too frequent absence of puddings. It will be seen by 
the above dietary that with very little strain of culinary arrangements 
meat msiy be served up in half a dozen different forms each week, and 
if two kinds of it always come to table, ample variety will have been 
attained. Variety in food is no mere luxury or pampering of appetite. 
In all cases desirable, in the case of growing boys it is highly so ; while 
in the case of boys with delicate or capricious appetites, it becomes an 
absolute necessity. A certain percentage of such boys will be found 
in every school— boys who, if denied considerable range of choice in 
their food, will at least fail to thrive in the midst of plenty. 

Many boys, being small meat-eaters, should at least have the chance 
of "making up" with something further, and good reason can be 
given why this something should be a well-sweetened pudding or tart ; 
if containing fresh or preserved fruit, so much the better. All boys, 
as a rule, dislike meat fat, and leave it on tlieir plates, and it is a bar- 
barous practice to try to make them eat it. And yet the same fat, in 
a different guise, embodied with flour in a loell-cooked pudding, they as 
universally like. All boys, again, love sugar and the juices of fresh 
vegetables or fruits, and it is a grave mistake not to secure a fair pro- 
portion of these elements in their daily food. Now a well-made fruit 
pudding or tart combines these several elements in happy proportion 
and palatable form, and boys' universal liking for this article of diet 
is simply the practical expression of the physiological truth, that fat 
and its chemical allies, starch and sugar, together with certain organic 
acids and salts, are indispensable to the healthy constitution of the 
blood — in other words, to the due building up and maintenance of the 
fabric of the body. 

A boy who has dined at 1 or 1.30 is ready by 6 o'clock for something 
more than the eternal tea and bread and butter. He keenly relishes 
at tliis meal some little variety or addition, such as plain home-made 
cake, or some fruit, or a bit of whatever salad herb may be in season. 

In the dietaiy above quoted, it will excite surprise* that no beer or 
other stimulant is allowed either at dinner or at any other meal or 
time in the day. If proof were needed that boys may grow u^rin the 
perfection of health and strength without any stimulants whatever, 
provided they* are liberally fed, I might point to the splendid physique 

* Remember this is written of England, not America. 



PRACTICAL DIETETICS. 127 

of the little inmates of this particular school, and invite any one to 
see how they worlv and how they play. Where Ihe food is amply suf- 
ficient and varied, a boy does not want beer, nay, is better without it ; 
where the food is not so, beer or wine will but imperfectly supplement 
its shortcomiuirs. 

Anotljer noteworthy point in the arrangements of this school is the 
veto on all " liampers from home," and the absence of any " shop " for 
tlie sale of sweets, etc. These are far from harmless institutions ; 
they are time-liouored aljominatious wliicli cannot be too strongly con- 
demned. The evil tendencies, at any rate of tlie hitter, are so glaring 
tiiat its authorized existence is, in my opinion, a blot upon any scliool. 
Setting aside the trasli eaten, the sickness caused, tlie morbid aj)- 
petite and habit of selfish gluttony accjuired, and the facilities afforded 
for tlie introduction of contraband goods — the money boys often spend 
at these places is grievous to think of. I can voucli for many a 
boy, whose parents were weak enough to supply him with almost 
unlimited pocket-mont'v, having often spent at his school "shop" a 
weekly sum (juite sufficient to teed a poor family. Now, where school 
meals are abundant enough, varied enough (especially in respect of 
sugar and vegetable juices), and frequent enough, there the inmates 
will have no further craving for cakes, sweets, fruits, etc. But if 
there be a shortcoming in one or other of these respects, then instinct 
drives the boys to seek elsewhere those elements of food in wliich 
their regular diet is deficient. An authf)rized "tuck shop," therefore, 
in connection with a school is j)rima facie evidence to an outsider, and 
not uncommonly a tacit admission on the part of the school proprietor 
that the diet of the inmates by no means satisfies all their legitimate 
cravings. 

That a scale of diet such as I have here advocated is just al:)out 
what boys ought to have, if they are to develop into strong healthi/ 
men, I am satisfied from personal experience and observation. That 
it is at all likely to meet with the acceptance of schoolmasters gen- 
erally, I am not simple enough to suppose. It is too violent an inno- 
vation on old routine. Nay, even paterfamilias himself will probably 
pooh-pooh such new-fangled notions of feeding boys like grown men 
(especially when he finds they cost more money), forgetting that boyg 
need more and more varied food than men. So-and-so was good 
enough for his (pater's) boyhood, why won't it do for his son's 1 But 
paterfamilias should speak only for himself. The diet of 7ds school- 
days sufficed for him, thanks probably to his sound constitution, but 
was it enough for many of his less robust schoolmates ? Did any of 
these in after years fail to grow up strong and healthy men ? and if 
so, is paterfamilias sure that their " simple," i. c, monotonous and 
meagre mode of feeding during their years of most active growth had 
nought to do with their failure 1 

Just as any system of teaching is a real success in proportion as it 
ada))ts itself to the peculiar needs — not of those who are quick and 
willing, but of those who are slow or averse to learn — so any scale of 
diet approaches perfection in exact proportion to the provision made, 
not merely for the average standard of taste and appetite, but for all 
reasonable deviations therefrom. The daily meals of a school may be 



128 PRACTICAL DIETETICS. 

abundant and of good quality, stiH if tliey be not more varied than 
to my certain linowledge they often are, many a boy and girl must 
fail day after day to get those particular elements of nutrition which 
they specially require. The result with such boys and girls is that 
even in the midst of plenty they renuxin xinder-fed and imperfectly 
nourished, thus retarding if not arresting the due growth and develop- 
ment of their bodies, and strongly favoring the development of any 
inherited or any other constitutional unsoundness lurking within 
them. 

BRAIN FOOD. 

Does the man who labors with his brain require the same kinds of 
food as he who labors with his body ? 

Ans. — Dr. J. M. Winn, an eminent English physician, says : " If we 
keep in view the difference between tlie structure of the nervous and 
muscular tissues, it becomes evident that a somewhat different kind of 
diet is required for the nutrition of the former from that of the latter. 
In order to develop and support the muscular organization, a large 
proportion of nitrogenous food is requisite ; not so when the object la 
to supply the waste of the more delicate and subtle tissue of the nerv- 
ous system. Fatty matter and phosphorus enter largely into the 
composition of the brain. It has been estimated that the former (brain 
wax, or brain fat, as it has been called), amounts to about one-third, 
and the latter (phosphorus) to one-twentieth or one-thirtieth of its 
solid substance. It is now generally believed that exertion of the will 
and reasoning powers cause an expenditure of the brain material, and 
a corresponding exhaustion of the nervous force. However, it must 
not be forgotten that prolonged bodily exercise exhausts the nervous 
force, as muscular contractions are commonly brought into action by 
nervous influence, hence the importance of a student avoiding exces- 
sive bodily efforts, which expend that nervous energy so essential for 
brain work. 

" Large quantities of animal food and malt liquor conduce rather to 
somnolency than to mental activity. There is a common saying that 
' fish feeds the brain,' which may depend on the phosphorus it 
contains. Certainly there can be no doubt that some sorts of fish, 
such as soles, whiting, plaice, etc. , are peculiarly suitable to a weak 
digestion. I may incidentally observe that I have found a fish diet 
especially serviceable for those predisposed to consumption. 

' ' The London correspondent of the Birmingham Morning News 
alludes to a new book that has recently appeared, containing remarks 
about the diet of certain literary men ; and he states that he is ac- 
quainted with a well-known writer who cleaves to oatmeal porridge 
when he is in working trim. In this respect the said writer imitates 
Gerald Massey, who swears by oatmeal porridge as a brain-inspiring 
compound. ' There is a deal of phosphorus in oatmeal,' Mr. Massey 
says,, 'and phosphorus is brain. There is also a large amount of 
phosphorus in fish. Consequently I never miss having a fish dinner at 
least once a week, and take a plate of good, thick, coarse, well-boiled 
Scotch oatmeal every morning in my life.' " 



PRACTICAL DIETETICS. 129 

To this it may be added that the best diet for brain workers who 
take a proper care of their liealth is l)ro\vi\ bread, cream, fresh butter, 
oatmeal, eggs, fresh cheese (if it agrees), tish, and a moderate amount 
of meat. Oysters may be used freely in their season, and fruits 
should not be omitted. There should be variety and change as the 
season and health require. 



APPLES AS FOOD. 

Do you recommend apples as a portion of the regular diet ? 

Ans. — Yes, quite as much as potatoes. Many persons do not value 
apples sufficiently as an important article of diet. Besides containing 
a large amount of sugar, mucilage, and other nutritive matter, this fruit 
contains vegetable acids, aromatic qualities, etc., which act powerfully 
in the capacity of refrigerants, tonics, and antiseptics, and when freely 
used at the season of mellow ripeness prevent del^ility, indigestion, 
and avert, without doubt, many of the " ills which flesh is heir to." 
The operators of Cornwall, England, consider ripe apples nearly as 
nourishing as bread, and far more so than potatoes. In 1810, which 
was a year of much scarcity, apples, instead of being converted into 
cider, were sold to the poor ; and the laborers asserted that they 
could " stand their work " on baked apples without meat ; whereas a 
potato diet required either meat or some other substantial nutriment. 
The French and Germans use apples extensively, as do the inhabit- 
ants of all European nations. The laborers depend upon them as an 
article of food, and frequently make a dinner of sliced apples and 
bread. There is no fruit cooked in as many different ways in our 
countrj'', nor is there any fruit whose value, as an article of nutriment, 
is so great. 

An old gentleman recently stated to us that every fall he used to 
have a severe sickness, but since he bought, during the season, a 
barrel of good apples, for himself alone, and ate the whole barrel in 
two or three months, he had every year saved himself from this sick- 
ness without wanting a doctor. 

Two good apples eaten before or soon after breakfast are an almost 
sure cure for constipation. 



OIL OF ALMONDS. 

Is oil of bitter almonds injurious if used to flavor foods ? 

Ans. — Nearly all the oil of bitter almonds used in this country con- 
tains a very small amount of prussic acid, and for this reason it is in- 
jurious, as this is a powerful poison. Taylor, in his Medical Juris- 
prudence, says it is a disgrace that such substances are allowed to be 
sold as flavors to foods. Confectioners use it in the preparation of 
food, and it is largely used in domestic cookei-y. So powerful is it 
that a single drop will flavor a large amount of cake. The artificial 
almond oil is made from nitro-benzole, a product of the distillation of 
coal tar. 



130 PRACTICAL DIETETICS. 

FRUIT ESSENCE. 

What is the composition of the various fruit flavors in common use 
for cooking ? 

Ans. — The genuine are made from the fruits themselves, and are 
wholesome and palatable. Most of them in use are artificial ; for in- 
stance, quince essence is made of aqua fortis, oil of rue, etc. ; pear 
flavor from fusil oil, acetate of potash and sulphuric acid ; apple 
essence from fusil oil, sulphuric acid and valerian acid ; strawberry, 
raspberry, and other essences are made from various compounds of 
ethers. Taken in any quantity they are believed to be injurious to 
health ; and no doubt children, who are moat likely to indulge in them 
to excess, are often made sick by them; indeed, such cases are common. 
The fruit syrups used at the soda fountains are largely artificial, and 
few can tell the difference, except in the after effect. The genuine is 
wholesome, the latter injurious. 

FRUIT JELLIES. 

Is the fruit jelly seen so often on the hotel table, used so frequently 
for dessert, and sold so abundantly by the grocer, healthful ? 

Ans. — Genuine fruit jelly is a wholesome dessert, and makes a 
pleasant drink when diluted with water, but most of the so-called 
fruit jelly put up so neatly in glass jars, so prettily colored, is not 
jelly at all, but a preparation from the feet and legs and bones of 
dead animals, that should find their way to the bone-boiler or the 
manufacturer of bone dust for the farmer. It is very cheap when 
compared with the true fruit jelly, and is made to resemble it by the 
color so easily given by the chemist. Chemistry is an art which has 
done much for civilization, but it has also done a great deal for dis- 
honest dealers, and a great deal to destroy the health of the people. 
Yet strange to say, most of them are too thoughtless to use their 
brains to protect themselves. When will people demand and have 
only genuine articles instead of cheap, worthless, fraudulent stuff, 
bearing only the name ? 

TARTARIC ACID. 

Ix \t proper to use tartaric acid in cookery ? 

Ans. — Tartaric acid is put up under the false name of fruitina, and 
is largely used to make tarts, pies, etc. It is not a rank poison but 
cannot be used very extensively Avithout harm, and is no substitute 
for fruit. We advise you not to use it. 

MELONS, 

Are water and musk melons wholesome ? 

Ans. — There are many persons who think the melon very unwhole- 
some, but there really is no more wholesome fruit. If eaten fresh 
and fully ripe, it makes a most agreeable addition to the breakfast 
and dinner table. 



PRACmCAL DIETETICS, 131 

OATMEAL AND MILK DIET. 

Why are the Scotch people, who drink a great deal of whisky, the 
best developed, pliysically, of any of the English race? 

Ans. — According to Dr. Edward Smith, who carefully investigated 
this subject, their fine bodies are in great part the result of their 
diet of oatmeal and milk. The Scotch women and children do less 
factory work, and live more out of doors. 

When the writer was in Edinburgh, the celebrated Dr. Guthrie 
called his attention to the size of Scotch people, and to the fact that 
the average size of their heads was greater than that of any other 
nation in the world, not excepting even the English ; and when asked 
how he accounted for this, he replied that he thought it was owing 
largely to their universal devotion to oatmeal. 

Indeed, the writer observed that the national dish was found upon 
the table at almost every meal, in the houses of the rich as well as 
the poor. In the morning came the mush, and in the evening the 
traditional cake, about the size of the crown of a hat, and a little 
harder than a sun-dried brick. 

For further confirmation on this important question, let the writer 
add that he has found a great advantage to follow the daily use of 
(honest) brown bread and oatmeal in his family. A child whose first 
teeth came through in a starved condition, so that they began to decay 
at once and cause much suffering, is now blessed with as fine a set of 
second cutters as any one could ask, while the general health of all 
has improved. In fact, we all vote that we must* daily have our 
brown bread and its twin-sister dish of oatmeal. 

HONEY. 

Is honey wholesome ? 

Ans. — Yes, used in moderation it is. Very old honey, however, 
should be eschewed. 

WORKING ON RICE AND MILK. 

Can a man do hard work on rice and milk ? 

Ans. — Yes, especially in hot weather, as the following case shows : 
A health reformer was told that he could not keep up with the crew 
of men through haying on his "sick folks' baby diet." He replied 
that he could go through the two weeks of haying on rice and milk, 
and endure the labor as well as any man in the crew. The whole 
company ridiculed him. 

" They laii<;hed, 'twas well ; bnt the rule applied 
Soon made them laugh on the other side." 

He went through the entire haying season with only rice and milk 
for nourishment, and, to the astonishment of all, did more work and 
endured it better than any other man in the company. They had sup- 
posed that rice contained but little nourishment, was suitable only for 
sick people, students, etc., but were surprised to learn that there is ou 
earth but one other article of food (oatmeal) containing more nourish- 
ment to the pound than rice. 



132 PRACTICAL DIETETICS. 

A HYGIENIC MEAL. 

Will you please give us a bill of fare for a simple, wholesome 
breakfast without meat ? 

Ans. — Raised Graham bread, gems, baked potatoes, baked apples^ 
cream, butter, boiled eggs. If you have cold mush, whether made of 
corn-meal, oatmeal, or Graham Hour, you may cut it in slices, place 
upon slightly buttered pans, and warm in the oven. Bake the potatoes 
in a hot oven, and take them out the moment they are done, or they 
will be heavy, waxy, and sodden. Removed at just the right time, 
they will be white and mealy, and such are better cold than over- 
baked ones, though steaming hot. 

Then for a simple drink mix equal parts of corn-meal or Graham- 
flour, or corn-meal and oatmeal, stir a cupful of this in two quarts of 
boiling water, boil for twenty minutes, then add a quart of milk, pour 
into a pitcher, and send to the table. A cupful is an indefinite 
quantity ; we purposely leave it so, for some will prefer for that 
quantity of gruel a very small cupful, and some will prefer it thicker. 
Puddings or cracked wheat, cooked the day before, may be placed on 
the breakfast table cold or slightly warmed, to be eaten with sugar 
and hot milk or stewed berries. 

To be added to the bill, if the family is large, or substituted for 
some of the articles if the family be small, consider the following : 
Baked sqiiash, Graham bread toast, with boiling milk thickened with 
corn-starch poured over it, or add to boiling milk, broken stale bread ; 
boil for one minute and send to the table hot. Graham mush, oatmeal 
mush, or cracked wheat, sent to the table in saucers, hot, to be eaten 
with sugar and cream or stewed fruit ; corn bread or corn-meal gems ; 
cabbage, cut fine, boiled in a small quantity of water, add cream 
dressing or lemon juice; boil together freshly pared turnips and 
potatoes (the turnips must boil awhile before the potatoes are added) ;, 
as soon as done pour off the water, dry for a moment, mash finely, add 
a little milk or cream, then stir well with a fork, dish and send to the 
table hot.. 

TO MAKE OATMEAL RELISH 

How can oatmeal be made to relish ? 

Ans. — Fill a saucer nearly full of well-cooked oatmeal. Now fill 
the oatmeal full of strawberries (pressing them in), ripe peaches, ripe 
pears, or some such fruit. Add a little sugar and cream. It is a rich 
and delicate dish. 

BREAD MADE WITH SEA WATER. 

Can a wholesome bread be made with sea water ? 

Ans. — M. Rabuteau calls attention to the importance of this article. 
In the first place it is very pleasant eating, also increasing the appe- 
tite and stimulating digestion. On board ship, bread so prepared has 
been found very conducive to the preservation of health during long 
voyages. It also exerts important medicinal effects, especially in 
dyspepsia. In phthisis and in scrofula it is said to be a powerful ad- 
juvant. Of this, however, we have little positive knowledge. 



PRACTICAL DIETETICS. 133 

FASHIONABLE DINNERS. 

Are late fashionable dinners objectionable? 

Ans. — There can be little doubt that the very late dinner hour pat- 
ronized by modern society is hig-hly unnatural, undesirable, and per- 
nicious. The fatigues undergone by fashionable folivs during the day 
do not tend to whet appetite — rather they serve to blunt its cravings 
— besides, the stomach of such is unfitted from properly fulfilling its 
functions. Of course tempting viands are presented on the dining- 
table, prepared by practised and skillful cooks, while the jileasures of 
love, friendship, and social converse become added as incentives. All 
the more dangerous, we should say. It is possible to cloy the stomach, 
and yet derive no benefit therefrom, but contrariwise. Better be iu 
the condition of the Cambridge students of yore, and " diet upon fast- 
ing every day " than cause the human system to receive more than it 
can digest. " I restrained myself," observes Bacon, "to so regular a 
diet as to eat flesh but once a day, and a little at a time, without salt 
or vinegar." 

FOOD FOR GOUT. 

What is the best food for gout ? 

Ans. — Temperance at the table. Dr. Cheyene said, nearly two 
hundred years ago : 

" Three pints of milk and six ounces of bread, daily, are the only 
certain remedies for gout. Let two people be chosen, as like as pos- 
sible, both suffering from the same cause. Give the most promising 
patient the most ai)proved nostrums, etc., and let the other have only 
the simplest attention, but placed under a strict diet, the lightest and 
least, milk and seed diet, and I will venture reputation and life that 
my method cures soonest." 

CHESTNUTS. 

Are chestnuts wholesome ? 

Ans. — Yes. In New York they are mainly eaten roasted or boiled, 
but where the teeth are sound, so they can be masticated thoroughly, 
they may be eaten raw, if preferred, by the young and those who 
havfe good stomachs. 

POTATOES. 

Are potatoes a good article of food for sedentary people? 

Ans. — Potatoes are nrore important than any other root used for 
food, and, on the score of their economy, are advantageously used iu 
large quantities by those who work hard out of doors, though their 
nutritrive value is not great except the starch they contain. They are, 
however, easily cultivated, easily kept, easily cooked, and easily 
digested ; but Ijeing wanting in fat and nitrogenous matter, they re- 
quire to be eaten in conjunction with those kinds of food which will 
8ui)i)ly the dc^ficiency. They should be white and mealy. Sedentary 
people wlio have weak digestion had better not eat very largely of 
potatoes, especially new ones, or those that are very old. During the 



134 PRACTICAL DIETETICS. 

winter and spring potatoes begin to grow old and decay, when they 
become particularly unwholesome. Never eat one of these. If there 
is any taint about them, any bad taste or smell, never put them in 
your stomach. In the city they are exposed so much to cold, and 
heat and light, and get so bruised, that they are never so good as 
when they come from the farmer's cellar. While on this subject we 
will give our readers a receipt for raising wholesome and delicious 
potatoes. Choose a soil that is a dry and sandy loam if possible ; but 
any soil will do except where it is positively wet. With a plough 
mark out your furrows three and a half feet apart, and eight or ten 
inches deep. Now fill this furrow four inches deep with thoroughly 
rotten oak tan bark, or chip manure, on which is a good sprinkling of 
gait. Over this spread the soil half an inch thick, and plant the best 
varieties of potatoes. Strictly follow this rule, and nutritious and 
delicious potatoes will be the result. 

MID-DAY HEARTY MEALS. 

Is a hearty meal in the middle of the day a good thing for a literary 
person who exj^ects to write in the afternoon ? 

Ans. — No. The dinner should be light, or delayed till the work is 
done. Intense brain work cannot go on at the same time the stomach 
is strongly taxed in digesting food. 

EATING GRAPE SEEDS, Etc. 

In eating grapes, apples, cherries, and other fruits, may one safely 
Bwallow the stones or seeds ? 

Ans. — It is best not to do it. No good comes from it, and some- 
times great danger. A person, for instance, who eats a pound of 
Catawba grapes and swallows the seeds, takes into the stomach four 
large hard stones to each grape. Now count the grapes to a pound 
and see how many there are. Now collect the stones, or seeds, to- 
gether, and see what a pile it makes ! These go rasping through the 
bowels like so many gravel stones, causing piles, ulceration, obstruc- 
tions, etc 

MOULDY BREAD. 

Is there any danger in eating mouldy bread ? 

Ans. — Yes, several cases of poisoning have been observed by the 
use of mouldy bread. Jollier has signalized the poisoning of three 
animals which had eaten mouldy bread. Westerhoff has made known 
the case of two children who had taken rye bread containing the 
mucor mncedo, the most common species of mould. The mould com- 
monly found in bread is the Ascoplwra mucedo, a species of minute 
fungi closely allied to the mucor mucedo named above. This last is 
the kind that is often found plentifully on ripe fruit, preserves, etc., 
and when observed should be removed at once, not only because of its 
deleterious nature, but also for the reason that it materially hastens 
the progress of decay. 



PK ACTIO AL DIETETICS. l35 

MEAT. 

Is not a large quautity of liesh meat necessary to the highest 
health ? 

Ans. — No doubt a large quantity of flesh meat is demanded by 
persons who eat mainly of fine bread, and the ordinary fare of the 
majority of people ; but much less will be found necessary with the 
diet commended in this work, and in many cases persons will find it a 
positive delight to avoid meat entirely. Still we do not advise this 
unless they choose wisely and well their food from among the very 
best articles used. Meat is generally considered necessary to maintain 
health and strength ; but this is largely the result of the false teach- 
ing of writers and the false education of the people. People eat too 
much meat. This taxes the excretory organs, renders the blood liable 
to be filled with impurities, which, if not eliminated, cause gout and 
other diseases. 

SUBSTITUTES FOR FLESH. 

Are there any substitutes for flesh food which are equally healthful 
and nouri.shing ? 

Ans. — Yes. Eggs, cheese, and cream are good substitutes for flesh. 
They should not be eaten so constantly, but occasionally. The con- 
stant and daily use of eggs and cheese would overload the blood with 
nitrogenous matter and do harm. About one-third of the weight of 
an egg is solid nutriment. This is more than can be said of meat. 
There are no bones and tough pieces that must be laid aside. A 
good egg is made up of ten parts shell, sixty parts white, and thirty 
parts yolk. The white of an egg contains eighty-six per cent, of 
water, the yolk fifty-two per cent. The average weight of an egg is 
about two ounces. Practically, an egg is animal food, and yet there is 
none of the disagreeable work of the butcher necessary to obtain it. 
The vegetarians of England use eggs freely, and many of these men 
are eighty and ninety years old, and have been remarkably free from 
illness. A good egg is alive. The shell is porous, and the oxygen of 
the air goes through the shell and keeps up a sort of respiration. 
Eggs may be dried and made to retain their goodness for a long time, 
or the shell may be varnished, which excludes the air, when, if kept 
at a proper temperature, they may be kept good for years. 

Good cheese is even more nutritious than eggs. Cheese varies much 
in its composition, but when properly made it contains about one-third 
water, one-third albuminous material, one-fourth fat, and about five 
per cent, of mineral matter. One-half of a pound of good cheese con- 
tains as much nitrogenous matter as a pound of the best meat, and 
one-third of a pound as much fat as a pound of average meat. Old 
cheese, however, is not wholesome, and should not be eaten. Very 
new cheese, on the other hand, is less easy of digestion. Cheese is 
difficult to keep in warm climates, and easily decays in all places un- 
less properly cared for. Mouldy and decayed cheese is unwholesome, 
but this can always be known by the taste. American cheese is not 
BO good as English and Swiss, still the best American cheese is very- 
good. The English working classes use bread and cheese largely as 



136 PRACTICAL DIETETICS. 

an article of diet. The Americans use it as a relish and luxury, but 
rarely as an article of nourishment. We believe Americans use too 
much meat. Those who wish for a substitute will find it in good eggs 
and cheese. With these foods, used properly, and fish, we need 
rarely use meat. 

MEAT AND THE EXCRETIONS. 

Does meat tax the excretory organs severely ? 

Ans. — Vt(ry much meat severely taxes the kidneys to carry off any 
surplus of effete nitrogenous matter. 

ANIMAL FOOD AND BRAVERY. 

Does not animal food make people braver and bolder than vegetable 
food? 

Ans. — Such may be true, but we do not believe it. Good food, and 
plenty of it, and good health may help to make people brave, and to 
a great extent this depends on food ; but that bravery is the result of 
eating either animal or vegetable food we very much doubt. 

EXCITING AN APPETITE. 

When a person has a poor appetite, is it wise to sharpen it by arti- 
ficial devices ? 

Ans. — Such a practice is wrong, and may lead to baneful results. 

FAT AND SCROFULA. 

Does fat food produce scrofula ? 

Ans. — It is believed that fat pork does produce scrofula, but we do 
not think that other fats produce it. Indeed, fat in some forms is 
essential to health. 

EATING PORK. 

A country friend writes : " It is now about hog-killing time ; every- 
body round here, men, women and children, will almost live on pork 
for weeks to come — pork soups, pork mince pies, pork cake, and pork 
everything. Do you think pork is a nutritious article of food, and 
ever suitable as an article of diet for children ? Many here think it 
ridiculous to say that pork is not healthy. Will you please give us 
your ideas on this question 1 

Ans. — 1. It is the source of nearly all the tape- worms found in the 
human body. Now and then one comes from eating beef or mutton ; 
but this is a very rare occurrence. 

2. It is the source of all the trichina, that so dreadfully affects 
human beings at times, these never coming from other meat. 

3. Hogs are almost always fattened so as to be actually diseased 
before killing. 

4. It is generall}'^ believed that pork-eating is a common source of 
scrofula. 

5. For sedentary people and for women it furnishes far too much 
of the fats for the best nutrition of the body. 



PRACTICAL DIETETICS. 137 

6. " And the swine, though he divide the hoof and be cloven-footed, 
yet he cheweth not the cud ; he is unclean to you. Of their flesh 
shall ye not eat, and their carcass shall ye not touch." — Leviticus xi. 
7 and 8. 

" And the swine, because it divideth the hoof yet cheweth not the 
cud, it is unclean unto you. Ye shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch 
their dead carcass." — Deitt. xiv. 8. 

" I have spread out my hands all the day to a rebellious people 
which worketh in a way that is not good, after their own thoughts, 
which remain among the graves and lodge in the mountains, which 
eat swine's fle.sh, and broth of abominable things is in their vessels." 
— Isaiah Ixv. 2 and 4. 

" Tliey that sanctify themselves, etc., eating swine's flesh, and the 
abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the 
Lord." — Isaiah Ixyi. 17. 

EGGS SOFT OR HARD BOILED. 

I have two friends who sit near me at table, and they often dispute' 
about eggs, one says soft boiled eggs are most wholesome, and the 
other says hard boiled eggs are the healthiest. Please tell us if hard 
boiled eggs are ever healthy. 

Ans. — Hard boiled eggs have always been considered more diflicult| 
of digestion than soft boiled ones. The reason is this : the white of 
an egg is almost pure albumen. Now albumen coagulates with heat, 
and is not so readily acted on by the gastric juice ; so that much of it 
passes from the stomach undigested. Persons with vigorous diges- 
tion may manage a hard-boiled egg so as to extract most of the 
nourishment from it, if it be well masticated and mixed with other 
food. The yolk of tlie egg, however, is not rendered worse by hard 
boiling. Eggs boiled just four minutes leave the white part in a 
partly flocculent condition, more easily digested, and not so soft as to 
be offensive to any one. An egg may be cooked in water at a tem- 
perature of about 165° F. for fifteen minutes and leave the yolk well 
cooked, but the white will not be rendered tough and hard to digest. 
Though more troublesome, this is a good way to cook an egg to render 
it easy of digestion as well as palatable. Persons whose palates will 
not tolerate a soft-boiled egg should have them poached and dropped 
on toast. 

WINE FOR CHILDREN. 

Do you think a weakly child would be injured by a glass or two of 
Avine after dinner? 

Ans.— The child's blood must not be inflamed by such means. If 
ardent spirits are used by any it should be by the aged, and not by the 
young. 

ADULTERATED MILK. 

Do you think it morally wrong to adulterate milk ; nearly every 
milkman does it, and an honest one can hardly live '? 

Ans. — We should like to see every dishonest milkman nailed by the 



138 PRACTICAL DIETETICS. 

ears to his pump till lie would promise to do better. Adulterated milk 
kills childreu by inches. 

NOTIONAL PEOPLE. 

Do you think it well for people to be notional and squeamish about 
their food? 

Ans. — No. It is well to be wise in the choice of food, but not no- 
tional. It is generally best to train the appetite to take what is con- 
venient, providing it is wholesome. Custom will make it pleasant to 
you. This rule will perhaps have exceptions, as when there are idio- 
Byncrasies. 

VALUE OP DIFFERENT PARTS OF MEAT. 

Why is there so much difference in the nutritive value of the flesh 
of animals in different parts of the body V 

Ans. — Flesh is composed of numerous bundles of minute tubes ad- 
hering together in a mass. These tubes are filled with the juices of 
the flesh. Now the quality of the flesh depends much on the juices, 
Avhile the tenderness or toughness depends largely on these tubes, and 
these vary with the age and condition of the animal. In old or ill- fed 
animals the tubes are more than the juices, and the meat is tough. In 
young animals it is the reverse. There is more nutriment in the flesh 
of animals not too young or too old, and neither too fat nor too lean. 

SALTED vs. FRESH MEAT. 

Wliy is not salted meat as wholesome as fresh ? 
Ans. — 1. Salt extracts a considerable portion of the juices of flesh. 
It also hardens it. 

2. The flavor is far inferior. 

3. It carries far too much salt into the system. Much of the im- 
paired health farmers have in spring comes from this source. This 
excess of salt with the meat begets thirst, loss of appetite, impaired 
digestion and skin disease. It would be far better for them to eat no 
meat in winter, but substitute oatmeal, molasses, cream and fruit for 
salted flesh, than to eat so much of the latter. With this diet they would 
rarely have the debility in spring now so common. 



EXTRACT OF MEAT. 

Is Liebig's extract of meat as good as is claimed by the manufac- 
turers ? 

Ans. No, not half nor a quarter so good. To make, for instance, one 
poitnd of this extract requires thirty pounds of flesh, but is all the 
nutriment of the flesh condensed to this amount ? By no means, but 
only the juices of the flesh and those parts soluble and the least nutri- 
tious. For very feeble persons, who can take but little food, it may 
be useful ; but as a staff for the sick generally, who need good nour- 
ishment, it is a broken reed. 



PEACnCAL DIETETICS. 139 

BUTTER. 

Is butter a food — that is, does it nourish and strengthen the body? 

Ans. — Butter is a food quite as much as meat. Indeed, there is more 
strength stored up in an ounce of butter than two ounces of tlie best 
lean meat ; but butter will not furnish material to build up the tissues 
of the body as bread and meat do. A man would starve on a butter 
diet in a very^short time. Butter is a fat useful in the body to support 
animal heat and generate force, as coal and wood do under the boiler, 
and of some use in building muscular and nervous tissues. 

EATING TO PLEASE. 

When dining with friends, should we eat of all the dishes set before 
us to please our host, who good-naturedly urges us to take more than 
we want ? 
Ans. — 

" 'Tis better, sir, I should you now displease, 
Than, by complying, nest day lose my ease." 

An ingenious and dextrously made excuse is always as acceptable as 
compliance. 

HYGIENIC COFFEE. 

How can hygienic coffee be made ? 

Ans. — What is called hygienic coffee may be made from rye, corn, 
sweet potatoes, peas, beans, etc., etc. It may be made by roasting 
these articles and treating them in about the same way that coffee is 
treated. As an occasional drink they are wholesome, and if well made, 
an agreeable beverage. 

BE AGREEABLE AT MEALS. 

You tell us to make ourselves agreeable and entertaining during our 
meals. Some of us have not the faculty of ready speech. What's to 
be done in such a case ? 

Ans. — Every one can do something to add to the social life at the 
table. If one cannot talk, he can listen, or ask questions, and draw 
out others who can talk. Good listeners are as necessary as good 
talkers. Never argue at the table ; but tell pleasant stories, relate or 
read anecdotes, and look out for the good of all. Sometimes a single 
anecdote from a paper starts a conversation that lasts during the meal 
time. 

A family table ought to be bright and cheerful, a sort of domestic 
altar, before which every one casts down his or her offering, great or 
small, of pleasantness and peace ; where, for at least a brief space in 
the day, all annoyances are laid aside, all stormy tempers hushed, all 
quarrels healed ; every one being glad and content to sit down at the 
same board, and eat the same bread and salt, making it, whether it 
were a rich repast or a dinner of herbs, equally a joyful, almost a 
sacramental meal. 



140 PEACnCAL DIETETICS. 

EATING WHEN TIRED. 

Is it injurious to eat a hearty meal wliile very tired ? 

Ans. — Yes, it is very injurious. Always arrange your labor so as to 
liave a short resting-spell both before and after every hearty meal, 
especially if old or feeble. 

OATMEAL DRINKS. 

How is oatmeal drink made? 

Ans. — This is highly recommended by those who liave tested it. A 
writer says : " Last year we attended a field trial of plows, and for a 
drink in the field we had buckets of cold water with oatmeal stirred 
in, which we found to be botii victuals and drink, and mighty refresh- 
ing." A Scottish medical journal also says of oatmeal, that, in its raw 
state, when mixed with water, it is becoming a favorite drink. The 
brose of " Auld Scotland " is becoming a favorite dish — and we are 
glad to note this, because we believe it to be a healthy and muscle- 
forming nourishment. The hunters and trappers of the West, are 
substituting oatmeal in this form for parched Indian corn. The 
same brawny fellows, whose powers of endurance are proverbial, 
whose scorn of fatigue is known to all readers of natural history, have 
found out that a very acceptable drink is made by putting about two 
teaspoonfuls of oatmeal to a tumbler of water. This they — the hun- 
ters and trappers — aver to be the best drink they can use ; and it is at 
once nourishing, unstimulating, and satisfying. 

It is a good substitute for tea, coffee, or any form of intoxicating 
liquors, which produce so much harm. 

FOOD AND PROLIFICNESS. 

What food causes people to be most prolific ? 

Ans. It is said that the families of fishermen are largest and very 
healthy, but we think this may arise from the fact that they live 
largely out of doors and take a great deal of exercise, as well as eat 
fish. It was once thought that the reason why the Irish are so 
prolific, was because thy live so largely on potatoes, but in our 
opinion this is not true. Prolificness is an inheritance. Some races 
and families are so by nature, and others are the reverse. It depends 
partly on the health and vigor of the generative apparatus, partly on 
habit, partly on food, and, strange to say, too much food, especially 
when coupled with indolence, interferes with bearing children. Un- 
fortunately the poor are more prolific than the rich. This subject is 
more fully discussed in our little work, " Parturition without Pain." 

LARGE STOMACHS. 

Is it well for a child to have a large abdomen ? 

Ans. — It should not be abnormally large, but it should be much 
larger than many people think. Only a good-sized stomach is capable 
of digesting abundance of food to keep up a large supply of blood. 
Small stomachs and small lungs are incompatible with high health 
and great powers. When children are kept on very concentrated food 



PEACTICAL DIETETICS. 141 

and too much sugar, the stomach is apt to be too small. On the other 
hand, if kept only on coarse vegetables it may be too large. Never 
reduce the size of the stomach by tight lacing. Corsets injure this 
organ and the liver more than they inj are the lungs. 

CODFISH. 

Is codfish easy of digestion 1 

Ans. — Dr. Pavy declares codfish to bo "a more trying article of food 
to the stomach than is generally credited." 

BEST SEASON FOR FISH. 

When are fish best for food ? 

Ans. — Their quality is best just before the spawning season, when 
they are in good health and condition. Just after spawning they are 
least valuable as food. Fish that have not attained the spawning age 
are always in season. 

SHELL FISH. 

Are shell fish nutritive and easy of digestion ? 

Ans. — Tliey are less nutritive and more difficult of digestion than 
other forms of animal food, and are apt to upset delicate stomachs. 
Oysters are, however, an exception. 

OYSTERS. 

Has an oyster stomach, heart, and liver ? 

Ans. — An oyster has a stomach, but no heart. It has gills like a 
fish, which answer for lungs. It has a very large liver, indeed, about 
two-thirds of an oyster is liver. 

RAW OYSTERS. 

Are raw oysters digestible ? 

Ans. They are more digestible than cooked ones. It is believed by 
some that there is a true gastric juice iu an oyster's stomach, which 
assists in digesting them. 

This, however, is not known with certainty. 

COMPOSITION OF OYSTERS. 

What is the chemical composition of an oyster ? 

Ans. — It varies somewhat ; but Payen gives the following 
analysis : 

Nitrogenous matter 14.010 

Fatty matter 1.515 

Saline matter 2 . 695 

Non-nitrogenous matter and loss 1 395 

Water 80 . 385 

100.000 



142 PE ACTIO AL DIETETICS, 

OYSTERS IN SUMMER. 

Why are not oysters eatable in months with an "t" in them? 

Ans. — The oysters cast their spawn in May, lose their good condi- 
tion, become poor and siclcly, and are reckoned " out of season." In. 
June, July, and August they regain their good condition and become 
eatable once more. 

RICE. 
Is rice nutritious ? 

Ans.— Rice is very rich in starch, yielding from seventy-five to- 
ninety per cent, of this carbo-hydrate. It is very poor in nitrogenous 
matter, yielding only six or seven per cent. It is very poor also in 
saline matter and in fat. The starch of rice is very easily digested, 
and it forms a valuable food for delicate stomachs. 
The composition of rice is : 

Nitrogenous matter 6.3 

Carbo-hydrates 79 . 5 

Fatty matter 7 

Saline matter .5 

Water 13.0 



100.0 
NUTS. 

Are nuts wholesome ? 

Ans. — Nuts are a very rich food, containing much oil, in such a 
state that it is not easily acted on by the gastric juice unless minutely 
divided before being passed to the stomach. Thoroughly chewed, 
however, they are wholesome for persons with good stomachs. 

Children may eat nuts freely to advantage, but care should be 
taken to choose fresh ones. Stale, old, overdried nuts are very indi- 
gestible and injurious. 

TURNIPS, Etc. 

Is there much nutriment in the turnip, carrot, etc.? 

Ans. — Very little. They contain about ninety per cent, of water. 
Their chief value is as a divisor of more nutritious food, to allow the 
gastric juice to act on it more readily, and as a relish. 

FRUITS. 

Should fruits constitute a very large share of our food? 

Ans. — Fruits are a very important article of food. They are agree- 
able, refreshing, wholesome. They counteract the injurious effects of 
too much nitrogenous, fatty, and salty matter. They are not highly 
nuti'itious, and should not be eaten in such quantities as to overtax the 
stomach, as they easily undergo decomposition and produce flatulence. 

THE BEST FRUIT. 
Which is the best of all the fruits ? 
Ans. — The apple. It is, when cooked, very easily digested and lax 



PEACTICAL DIETETICS. 143 

ative, overcoming constipation and f urnisliing a valuaWe acid for the 
stomach. The following is the composition of an apple : 

Sugar 7.58 

Malic acid 1.04 

Nitrogenous matter 0.22 

Ppctous substances 2.72 

Ash 44 

Water 88.00 



100.00 
This does not include seeds or stem. 

THE ORANGE. 

Do you think an orange is wholesome, if taken before breakfast ? 

Ans. — The orange is very easily digested, admissible in health and 
disease, and one before breakfast will often prepare the delicate stom- 
ach for a good meal better than anything else. 

GRAPES. 

Are not grapes very nutritious and a healthy food ? 

Ans. — They are. Well ripened, sweet grapes may be taken to great 
advantage in cases of dyspepsia, liver complaint, constipation, and by 
nearly all invalids. The skin and seeds should be rejected. The " grape 
cure" is very popular in France, Spain, and Germany; but European 
grapes are better than American. The composition of grapes is : 

Sugar 13.780 

Malic acid 1 . 020 

Nitrogenous matter 832 

Pectous matter 498 

Ash 340 

Seeds and Skin 2.592 

Pectose 941 

Water 79.997 

BEST TIME TO EAT FRUIT. 

Wlien is tlie best time to eat fruit ? 

Ans. — Most writers advise that fruit should always be eaten as a 
part of the regular meal ; bnt we believe that from an hour before to 
an hour after (luite as good a time as any. Fruits do not need much 
digestion and need not interfere with the digestive process. Do not 
mix fruits with roots — such as potatoes, for instance. In good health 
they may be eaten moderately at any time when they are demanded. 
Fruits are more of a drink than food. Children in health may have 
fruit most freely, but should not eat it just before going to bed. If it 
causes flatulence, eat less of it. 

For a full statement of the analysis of all fruits, and their virtues, 
see " Pavy oti Food." Our space will not allow of a full discussion 
of this subject. 



144 PEACTICAL DIETETICS. 



HONEY. 



Is lioaey a true food, and may it be eaten with safety ? 

Ans. — Honey is a vegetable product, secreted by the nectariferous 
glands of flowers, sucked up by bees, passed to the honey-bag, possibly 
slightly changed before disgorged, and deposited in the cell of conib. 
Pure fresh honey is slightly laxative and wholesome. The comb is 
not easily digested. A German teacher has lately written a work on 
the subject of honey and its healing properties. While he may over- 
estimate its value, what he says is interesting. He pays : 

" A strong influence for publishing this book was the fact that I, a 
sufferer from hemorrhages, already given up to despair, and at the 
verge of the grave, was saved by the wonderful curative powers of 
honey ; and now, thank God, I am freed, not only from weakness of 
my lungs, but rejoice in the possession of perfect health. 

" At my first attack, upward of thirty years ago, powders and tea 
were ordered for me, which benefited me but little. I then placed 
little confidence in honey, which I used occasionally, and in small 
quantities. Judgiug from my present knowledge, I believe that the 
honey was the only remedy that was doing me any good, and it is this 
that I have to thank for the gradual, the sure restoration of my 
health. 

" As my disease increased, I began to use cod-liver oil, which weak- 
ened and injured my stomach, so that I could hardly digest anything 
more, and my condition became worse and worse. Again I returned to 
honey, when my suffering immediately began to decrease and disap- 
pear. Besides the use of honey, I took pains to preserve my breast 
and lungs from injury which, in my trying situation as public teacher, 
was almost impossible. My disease being caused by my constant 
teaching during so many j^ears, I gave up my profession, and honey 
was my only medicine, whereby I, by the simplest, safest, quickest, 
and pleasantest manner (for I was fond of honey), relieved the disease 
in my throat ; and, out of thankfulness, I now write this book for the 
use and benefit of many, especially for the use of those suffering 
from diseases of the throat and lungs." 

THE TEETH. 

As our teeth have a great deal to do with our food, what are the best 
methods of preserving them ? 

Ans. — As soon as the teeth make their appearance it should be the 
duty of the mother or the nurse to clean them, morning and evening, 
with a small brush and tepid water, and, as they increase in number, floss 
silk, Avell waxed, should be passed between them, moving it up and 
down a little under the gums, for the purpose of removing accumula- 
tions, remembering that food, fruit, etc., left in the mouth and between 
the teeth during sleep, are the principal causes of their decay. Early 
and careful attention to the teeth, cleanliness of mouth, temperance in 
living, and abstinence from acids, are some of the best maxims for the 
preservation and beauty of the teeth. When children are thus famil- 
iarized with the healthy and necessary custom of brusliing the teeth, 
it becomes a fixed habit, and they will find it ever afterward abso- 



PRACTICAL DIETETICS. 145 

lutelj essential to their comfort. As soon as tlie child is old enough 
give it a tooth-brush and give instructions for use, and see that it is 
done often and thoroughly. The brushes to be used should be adapted 
to each case, neither too soft nor too hard, and so formed as to clean 
the teeth without injuriously irritating the surrounding tissues. 
Brushes for cliildren should not be quite as stiff as for older persons, 
the gums, not having been subjected to as much friction, are not so 
dense. Procure brushes of a medium width and narrow at their 
extremity, so as easily to penetrate to the last molars without wound- 
ing the cheeks ; they should have three rows of bristles, with the 
handle slightly bent, so as to allow of an easy and graceful motion. 

ICE. 

How can ice be kept in small quantities, in a sick room, without its 
immediately melting ? 

Ans. — Make a double pocket of strong woolen cloth, no matter how 
coarse and faded it is. Have a space, about two inches or so, between 
the inner and outer pockets, and pack this space as full as possible 
with feathers. You have no need to use geese feathers ; hen feathers 
are just as good. With a pocket thus constructed, and kept closely 
tied at the mouth, a few pounds of ice may be kept several days. 

STARCHY MATTER FOR BABES. 

Can an infant be fed on preparations containing much starch when 
the mother has not sufficient milk for it? 

Ans. — No. The starchy preparations so common in the nursery are 
very deleterious, and starve the little one. There is no starch in milk. 
Never feed a baby on arrow-root, unless you desire to kill it. 

BAKING-POWDERS. 

What are baking-powders made of, and are they proper things to be 
introduced into the stomach ? 

Ans. — The modern baking-powders, as a rule, consist of tartaric 
acid and carbonate of soda, which evolve the necessary gas, when in 
contact with water, to make the bread light, leaving behind a residue 
of tartrate of soda. In practice, they are made by mixing together 
these two substances (first thoroughly dried and pounded) in nearly 
equal proportion, and then diluting the mixture thus made with any 
cheap material — such as flour of rice — so as to add to the bulk, and 
enable an apparently greater quantity of baking-powder to be sold for 
a given sum. Many excellent food authorities have objected to the 
use of baking-powder.s thus made, on the ground that it behooves us 
to be careful how we add to the already sufficiently large amount of 
mineral matter which we naturally consume daily. We should hesi- 
tate before we advised the whole bread of a family to be thus pre- 
pared, though for some of the minor articles of food only occasionally 
used, they may do little harm. Unfortunately, some of the manufac- 
turers of baking-powders are guilty of the addition of alum in con- 
siderable quantities. 



146 PKACTICAL DIETETICS. 

HUMILIATION IN EATING AND DRINKING. 

Are not eating and drinking humiliating acts, rather than an en- 
nobling, elevating one ? 

Ans. — No. There are those who pretend that it is humiliating to be 
afflicted by purely animal needs ; others, on the contrary, are of opinion 
that as feeding is a delectable operation, we ought to be very thankful 
that we can perform it so frequently ; a third class thinks nothing about 
it either way, while doctors, economists, and historians regard eating as 
a grave question, as one of the keys to health, and as a serious element 
in the progress of civilization. And there is another point of view, 
more interesting still. We meet to eat ; our repasts are made in com- 
pany, they bring families and friends together, they exercise a unify- 
ing effect of enormous force. Our dinners may, however, be a source 
of gluttony and dissipation, if we will make them so. Should not each 
one determine that they shall minister to good, and not to evil ? We 
should always go to the table with a cheerful spirit and keep cheerful 
as long as we sit there, and try to make others so. 

ENERGY AND FOOD. 

Can all the energy in food be extracted during digestion ? 

Ans. — As a general rule, all the energy of food cannot be extracted 
from it by the body. If it could be, then an ounce of lean beef would 
give strength sufficient to lift fifty-five tons one foot high ; an ounce 
of veal, forty-five tons one foot high ; an ounce of bread, eighty-three 
tons ; an ounce of rice, one hundred and forty-five tons ; an ounce of 
oatmeal, one hundred and fifty-two tons ; an ounce of pea-meal, one 
hundred and forty-six tons ; an ounce of potatoes, thirty-eight tons ; 
an ounce of carrots, twenty tons ; an ounce of cabbage, sixteen tons ; 
aia ounce of butter, two hundred and eighty tons ; an ounce of the 
white of an egg, twenty -two tons ; an ounce of the yolk of an egg, one 
hundred and twenty-seven tons ; an ounce of good cheese, one hundred 
and sixty-eight tons ; an ounce of milk, twenty-four tons ; and an ounce 
of sugar, one hundred and thirty tons, one foot high. In order, how- 
ever, to get all this strength out of food it must be well digested, and 
used to advantage. There must be no waste. It is calculated that the 
strength developed from food in the average body is equal daily to an 
amount that will lift five thousand tons one foot high. But by far the 
larger part of this is used up in keeping the body warm, circulating 
the blood, digesting food, etc., so that the available force of the body 
is only .a small portion of this. 

DIETETIC REFORMERS. 

Do you think those dietetic reformers, who, like Sylvester Graham, 
advise the disuse of salt, butter, milk, sugar, eggs, cheese, condiments, 
and all forms of fat as well as flesh, have a correct notion of diet ? 

Ans. — No. True dietetics must be founded on science and common 
sense, and not on conceptions of the brain or fancies of theorizers. We 
do not doubt but science will yet show us how to live without flesh, 
but it will never show us how to live without nourishing, wholesome 
food, containing the fats, salts, and all the elements of complete nutri- 



PRACTICAL DIETETICS. 147 

tion. The dietetic reformers, in tlieir zeal, have, some of them, over- 
shot the mark, bat they meant well, and, while they have done much 
harm, have also done much good by calling attention to a neglected 
subject and to many abuses of diet. The good they have done will 
live after them ; the hai"m will soon be forgotten. 

RYE BREAD. 

Is rye bread wholesome ? 

Ans. — Yes. It is a laxative, cures constipation, but sometimes the 
disease to which this grain is subject will render the whole population 
where it is used dangerously ill, and be productive of most afflicting 
diseases. This however, is a rare circumstance easily avoided. 

DIET FOR A FEEBLE CHILD. 

What diet would you prescribe for children from two to ten years 
of age, of strong mental temperament and slender bodies V I am 
anxious to know how I can best develop their bodies. My boy of 
seven years of age takes a number seven hat and weighs but a little over 
thirty pounds. His general health is much better than it was one year 
ago. Is there any particular objection to Indian-meal bread or rye 
bread? I do not like to trouble you, but I am anxious to learn. \V'e 
do not send him to school now, and keep him out of doors as much as 
possible in pleasant weather. Why I ask so particularly about corn- 
meal is this : a phrenologist that lectured here last spring said I ought 
not to give him corn bread because it is so heating. He is very fond 
of it. 

"An Anxious Mother." 

Ans. — Give your children plenty of the best brown bread and milk. 
Well made corn-meal bread, rye bread, and oatmeal wafers, are good. 
The phrenologist who objected to corn-meal bread did not know very 
much about it. Corn-meal pudding and good syrup or milk, will be 
excellent. Now and then an egg on toast will not come amiss. Chil- 
dren need abundance of wholesome food. If they cannot have it they 
will be dwarfed and stunted. Good fruit is appropriate. 

DIET FOR CONSUMPTIVES. 

What are the best foods for consumptives ? 

Ans. — Consumptives must see that their bodies are properly fed. 
They should not take food as a medicine, but as nourishment. They 
should have the very best things to eat that they can get, and, fortu- 
nately, the best things are not always the most expensive or difficult 
to olrtain. If it agrees, a cup of cream may very appropriately be taken 
every daj' by those who are inclined to consumption. Brown bread, and 
milk and cream, oatmeal and cream, eggs, with the moderate use of 
beef and mutton, good butter and mealy potatoes, will, of themselves, 
constitute a perfect diet. They should avoid nicknacks and I'ancy 
foods, and live on things substantial and nourishing. Fruits should be 
used in their season moderately. Consumption is a constitutional dis- 
ease showing poverty of blood and poverty of healthy tissue, and this 



148 PRACTICAL DIETETICS. 

poverty miist be eradicated. It can be done partially by such foods as 
are needed to build up a strong healthy body and carry on all its func- 
tions. Many physicians think that the disuse of fat is a cause of con- 
sumption, and they pi-escribe cod-liver oil, not as a medicine, but as a 
food, and, in many cases, it lias proved useful. We think, however, 
that it is the sedentary and unnatural life people lead that has most to 
do in causing so much consumption, and that with this sedentary life 
comes a feeble condition of body and brain favorable to the disease. 
A wise physical education and abundant wholesome nourishment 
would dissipate half the consumption in the world, and the other half 
would soon be banished by some other means. Consumption ia a dis- 
ease to be avoided, not cured. 

INSUFFICIENT NOURISHMENT. 

What are the effects of insufficient nourishment ? 

Ans. — Insufficient nutriment weakens the mind as well as the body. 
Many writers place poor diet at the head of the causes that weaken 
attention and debilitate all the faculties of the mind. Thus we often 
see that disease which wastes the body enfeebles the mind also; though 
this is not always the case, for sometimes the brain does not diminish 
as the other parts of the body do. 

APPETITE AND WORK. 

Can a person with a poor appetite do much hard work ? 

Ans. — Pavy says that a falling off of the appetite indicates a dimin- 
ished capacity to labor. A farmer was once asked why he paid his hands 
•so much, rejilied, it was economy to pay them well, so they could buy 
sufficient food. One might as reasonably expect much labor from a 
meagre diet as much fire from a little wood. A good appetite is gen- 
erally synonymous with health and ability to do much labor. Great 
workers, whether with body or brain, or both, are usually liberal eat- 
ers. Lawyers and miuisters are apt to be good eaters. They should 
eat wisely as well as liberally, otherwise, dyspepsia will be the result. 
The old notion that great thinkers are small eaters is incorrect, except 
in the case of those who otherwise live very quiet and inactive lives. 

GREEN PEAS. 

Are green peas digestible and wholesome ? 

Ans. — Peas, when eaten green, are more digestible, but less nour- 
ishing than when in the mature state. In the latter case they need 
slow and prolonged cooking before they are fit for the table. When 
old they should be soaked for some hours previous to boiling. From 
the large amount of nitrogenous matter and starch in their composi- 
tion, they form a valuable and cheap article of diet. 

THE SWEET POTATO. 

Is the sweet potato very nutritious and wholesome ? 

Ans.— The esculent properties of this tuber depend very much upon 
the conditions under which it was grown. Perhaps no vegetable is so 
greatly modified in its character by variations of soil and climate. To 



PKACTICAL DIETETICS. 



149 



grow good sweet potatoes requires a light, warm, porous soil, and a 
proper degree and continuance of summer heat. Planted in ground of 
a compact, retentive nature, they become watery, insipid, heavy, and 
quite unfit for human food. Their fine qualities are often impaired 
likewise by rough, careless handling, and by exposure to cold. They 
should be gathered when fully ripe, and only on a clear day. Allow 
them to lie exposed to the sun for a few hours to become dry; then 
place them in clean barrels or boxes, handling them carefully as if 
they were eggs; store them in a dry place where the temperature will 
be pretty uniform, never lower than 45", and they will keep fresh and 
good all the year round. Owing to the large amount of starch and sugar 
in their composition, they may be regarded as constituting a rich and 
valuable food. When properly grown and cooked they are delicious, 
wholesome, and satisfying. If eaten in an unripe state they are apt 
to produce flatulence. 

ANALYSES OF FOODS. 

Is there any table of analyses of foods, showing the amount of each 
proximate principle ? 

Ans. — The subjoined table, compiled from Letheby's Analyses, may 
serve to determine the relative values of the substances named as 
articles of diet: 



Nitrogenous matter 

Carbo-hydrates 

Fatty matter .. 

Mineral matter 

Water 



WHEAT 
rLOUB. 



10.8 

70.5 

2.0 

1.7 

15.0 



100. 



OAT- 
MEAL. 



12.6 

63.8 
5.6 
3.0 

15.0 



100. 



6.3 
74.3 
2.4 

2.0 
15.0 



100. 



8.0 
73.2 
2.0 
1.8 
15.0 



100. 



UAI2E. 


BICE. 


11.1 


6.3 


65.1 


79.5 


8.1 


0.7 


1.7 


0.5 


14.0 


13.0 


100. 


100. 



The following table is from the analyses of Payen. 
analyzed were previously dried. 



The substances 





BUCK- 
WHEAT. 


BEANS. 


PEAS. 


Nitrogenous matter 


13.10 

64.90 
3.00 
3.50 
2.50 

13.00 


30.8 

48.3 
1.9 
3.0 
3.5 

12.5 


23.8 




58.7 


Fattymatter 


2.1 
3.5 




2.1 


Water 


8.3 








100. 


100. 


98.5 



150 



PRACTICAL DIETETICS. 



The followiug is also from Payen ; 




SWEET 
POTATO. 



Nitrogenous matter 

Starch 

Cellulose 

Sugar and gummy matter 

Fatty matter 

Other organic matter. . . . 

Mineral salts 

Water 



1.50 
16.05 
0.45 
10.20 
0.30 
1.10 
2.60 
67.50 



99.70 



FROM LETHEBY'S TABLE. 



Nitrogenous matter 

Starch, etc... 

Sugar 

Fat 

Mineral salts 

Water 



100. 



CAKKOTS. 


PABSNTPS. 


TUKNIPS. 


1.3 


1.1 


1.3 


8.4 


9.6 


5.1 


6.1 


5.8 


2.1 


0.2 


0.5 




1.0 


1.0 


0.6 


83.0 


83.0 


91.0 



100. 



100. 



FATS. 

Do you advise people to eat sparingly of fat ? 

Ans. — Fats are very important elements of our food, still goose oil, 
lard, tallow, train oil, fish oil, and such articles of diet, are wisely es- 
chewed by all except lumbermen, and those whose physical labor is 
very great, and who are almost constantly exposed to cold. While, 
therefore, the student and civilized worker wisely eschews the coarser 
forms of fat, he should not ignore it in some more refined and delicate 
form. He should instead use such as are most suitable to his taste 
and needs. The brain is a great consumer of fat, combined with 
phosphorus. No phosphorus — no thought, is a modern phrase, ex- 
pressing the importance of phosphorus in mental action. As yet we 
are in tlie infancy of knowledge on this subject, but it may be pre- 
dicted that when we know the whole truth, the phrase will be some- 
thing like this: " No phosphorized fat, no thought." There is always 
some fat in most of our foods. The special forms best to make up any 
deficiency that may be in them are no doubt to be found in good butter 



PRACTICAL DIETETICS. 151 

and cream. There are, of course, instances in which they will not be 
tolerated, but these are exce])tJons. Fat is not digested in the 
stomach, but by the pancreatic juice in the intestines, nature having 
provided a special juice to form it into an emulsion so it may be ab- 
sorbed. In this state every atom of fat is so small that it requires a 
microscope to detect it, and in this state it may easily be passed 
through the walls of the intestines and carried into the circulation. 
We need no better evidence of the need of fat than this careful provi- 
sion for its digestion in the system. The symptoms which attend a 
non-use of fats in some form are coldness of the extremities, a ten- 
dency to indigestion, lack of nervous energy and power to think. 
Emaciation, diminished muscular power, and a tendency to consump- 
tion. 

It may be true that many persons suffer from an inability to digest 
fats, and that sometimes they obstruct the liver and make much 
trouble. In all such cases it will be advisable to use them wisely and 
judiciously, but rarely to avoid them altogether, except, perhaps, in 
corpulence, where they are best used in great moderation . Lean peo- 
ple should use fats rather more freely than fat ones. The amount of 
fat necessary for a healthy working person is about three ounces 
daily. Persons with extraordinary working power require more than 
this. The starch in our food is to a certain extent a substitute for fat, 
and may be converted into It. 

SUGAR. 

Is not sugar an objectionable article of food ? 

Ans. — No. Sugar is a carbo-hydrate, and bears a close relationship 
to fat, only the latter contains about two and a half times as much 
force-giving quality. It is objected to sugar that it deranges digestion, 
obstructs the liver, spoils the teeth, and in many ways does harm — 
no doubt of it. Taken on an empty stomach, and in great quantities, 
sugar is injurious ; but as a part of our food, and used in moderation, 
sugar is not only harmless, but very beneficial. Children should be 
allowed a reasonable amount of sugar as a part of their meals, but 
candies, as generally sold, made partly of sugar or glucose, and many 
poisonous ingredients, should never find their way into the stomachs of 
our little ones. So, too, the syru].s made by the action of sulphuric 
acid on corn-starch, or the refuse in corn-starch factories, making a 
beautiful golden-drip syrup, is a very dangerous article, spoiling both 
stomach and teeth. In using sugar or syrups, choose only the purest 
and best sorts, otherwise much harm will come from them. As you 
value teeth, stomach, and health, never use those articles of food 
manufactured in the chemist's shop ; if you do, you must expect to 
suffer the consequences. Half the ills of life would, be avoided by 
careful attention to the wise choice and adaptation of food to daily 
needs. 

CONCLUSION. 

This little work is here brought to an end. It does not pretend to be 
an elaborate and exhaustive treatise ; but it is believed that its pre- 



152 PEACTICAIi DIETETICS. 

cepts are wise and judicious, and its hints and receipts valuable. In 
conclusion, let the writer urge on the reader the necessity for his mak- 
ing the subject of which this Avork treats a study. Do not trust to 
find out all you need to know from your doctor, your parents, or your 
friends, or even the ordinary cook-books, but delve into the science of 
dietetics. On it hangs, to a greater extent than is believed, the future 
of our race — well fed, they will reach a higher civilization — better 
health, greater beauty, and more happiness, than illy fed. Guard 
ever against excess, and avoid the extremes — either great abstemious- 
ness or gluttony. With these words the author bids the reader an 
affectionate farewell. 



1 1^ D E X. 



PAGE 

Acid, tartaric 130 

Aids to digestion 40 

Aliments, classiflcation of 10 

Almond custard 77 

Almonds, oil of 129 

Amyloids, the 14 

Analysis of food 149 

Animal food and bravery 136 

Appetite and work 14S 

" exciting 136 

Apple barley water 101 

" cake pie 75 

" fig water 105 

" float pie 74 

" puff " 74 

" tea 105 

" water 105 

Apples as food 129 

'• baked 91 

Arrowroot custard 77 

" molded 84 

Asparagus 70 

toast 89 

Baked custard 78 

Baking powders 145 

Barberry jam 93 

jelly 93 

Barley molded 84 

" soup 48 

" water, plain 105 

Be agreeable at meals 139 

Bean soup 48 

Beans, shelled 70 

string 70 

" without pork 95 

Beef and tomato soup 49 

Beverage, American temperance 103 

Beverages from fruit juices 101 

" other, (See di inks) 

Biscuits, corn and rye 59 

" delicious 59 

" wheat meal 60 

Blackberry drink 104 

Blood, minerals in 18 

Boarding-school tables 124 

Body, daily wants of 32 

" minerals not stored in 19 

Brain, food for 128 

Brain-workers and food 123 

7 



FAOH 

Bread, apple 5t 

" " brown 61 

" Boston brown 57 

" brown 86 

" brown and sweet 60 

" buttermilk 54 

" coarse 86 

" corn 86 

" general remarks on 53 

" Graham yeast 53 

" Heald's favorite 86 

" made with sea water 132 

" mouldy ;. 134 

" oatmeal 56 

" rye 86 

" rye, wholesome 134 

" scalded sponge 53 

" with potatoes 53 

" Yankee brown 61 

Breakfast, hygienic 132 

Broth, barley 50 

Buns, sweet potato 54 

Butter 139 

Buttermilk 113 

Cabbage and milk 71 

boiled 70 

" cold slaw 71 

" Dr. Everett's choice 71 

Cakes, buckwheat 55 

" cocoanut custard 84 

" corn 56,59 

" cornmeal breakfast 59 

" corn, with fruit 59 

" cup 82 

" cup, Graham 82 

" delicate 84 

" general remarks on 82 

" gold 83 

" gold medal corn 56 

" ground rice 84 

" hygienic breakfast 55 

" ice cream 84 

" Indian griddle 68 

" oatmeal 62 

" " (Scotch way) 61 

" " breakfast 61 

" orange : 83 

" pan, journey 94 

" rice 94 



154 



INDEX. 



PAGE 

Cakes, Shakspeare 83 

" silver 83 

" sponge 84 

" squash 56 

" strawberry short 83 

" Yankee strawberry 56 

Capillaire 106 

Carrots stewed 69 

CaiUirtower t'^ 

Cherry drink 104 

Cheese and bread toast 65 

" cottage 65 

" sandwiches 65 

ChestniTts 133 

Chlorine and phosphoric acid H 

Ctiocolate and cocoa 116 

" to prepare IIT 

Cocoa and chocolate 1 16 

" to prepare 117 

Codfish 141 

Coflee 116 

•' hygienic 139 

" to prepare 117 

Conclusion 152 

Condiments 22 

Consumptives, food for 147 

Contents 5 

Cookies 82,84 

Corn, green 68 

" " cut from the cob 68 

" dried sweet 69 

" muffins 94 

Cottage cheese 65 

Cracked wheat molded 85 

Crackers, delicious 90 

" Graham 60 

Cracknels, oatmeal 62 

" " and cocoanut 63 

Cranberry drink 103 

Cream sherbet. 106 

Crisps, wheat meal 59 

Cunantade, mixed 104 

" pure 104 

Custards 77 

Custard, almond 77 

" arrjwroot 77 

" baked 78 

" gooseberry 78 

" lemon 78 

" plain 78 

«' raspberry 78 

" rice 78 

" tomato 88 

" vanilla 79 

" Welsh 77 

" white 79 

Dabbs, North Carolina 94 

Dessert, strawberry 95 

Diet and work 33 

" daily variation of 122 

" of farm laborers in England — 32 

" of students 124 

Dietaries, school 125 

Dietetic habits 34 

Digestion 38 



FAGS 

Digestion, aids to 40 

Dinners, fashionable 133 

Directions, general 43 

Distribution of meals 34 

Dodgers, corn 94 

Drink, a cool ginger 104 

" American temperance bever- 
age 103 

" apple barley water 101 

" '• tea 105 

" " toast tea . 101 

" water 101,105 

" barley 105 

" blackberry 104 

" capillaire 106 

" cherry 104 

" cranberry 103 

" cream sherbet 10.6 

" currantade, mixed 104 

" " pure 104 

" cream sherbet 106 

" dried apple barley 105 

" eau Sucre 106 

" egg tea 103 

" English 102 

" flg water 105 

" for Spring 101 

" from fruits, etc 101 

" gooseberry water 104 

" grape 106 

" lemonade, common 102 

English 102 

hot 102 

" " milk 103 

" '• orange 102 

" " pineapple 102 

lea 102 

" " whey 103 

" lemon juice preserved 102 

" •' sherbet 106 

" " water 103 

" plum water 104 

" raspberry 104 

" rhubarb tea ,105 

" sherbet, cream 106 

" " lemon 106 

" " strawberry 106 

" strawberry 103 

" " canned 104 

" " sherbet 106 

" sugar 106 

" summer beverages 106 

" tamarind water 103 

" toast water 106 

Eating, simplicity in 44 

" grape seeds , 134 

" to please 139 

" when tired 140 

Egg plant 72 

" new way to cook 91 

Egg sandwiches 65 

Eggs baked 63 

" boiled 63 

" dropped 63 

" scrambled 63 



INDEX. 



165 



PAGE 

EggB soft or hard boiled .. . . 137 

" tea 103 

" without boiling 95 

" with spinach % 

Energy and fi)od 146 

Engine, man compared with 2G 

Experiments of Fick and Wislicenus. . 29 

Extract ol meat 138 

Farm laborers, diet of 32 

Fashionable dinners 133 

Fat and scrofula 136 

Feeble children, food for 147 

Fats, right use of. 12, 150 

Fish, best season for 141 

" cod 141 

" shell 141 

Flesh and the excretions 136 

" substitutes for 135 

Food, amount of, required daily 122 

" and animal heat 8 

" " energy 146 

" " physical strength 8 

" " proliflcness 140 

" " thought, mid feeling 9 

" animal and bravery 136 

" apples as 129 

" brainworkers and 123 

" choice and treatment of 45 

" force giving for summer 122 

" for consumptives 147 

" " different seasons 121 

" " feeble children 147 

" " gout 133 

" " meu vs. women 124 

" " the brain 128 

" functions of 7 

" f,'uide to quantity of 12.3 

" insufficient 148 

" iron in 17 

" liquid 99 

" mineral 16 

" relations of to growth 7 

" " " repair 7 

" " " waste 8 

" starchy, for babes 145 

" uses of difl'erent elements iu.. .. 17 

" value of 25 

" work stored in 25 

Foods, analy^^is of 149 

" calorific power of various 25 

" effect ou the faculties 19 

Fried egg sandwich 66 

Fruit, best time to eat 143 

" essence 130 

" jellies 130 

" juices 105 

Fruits 142 

" thebest 142 

Gems, Anger's 87 

" corn 56 

" delicious corn 83 

" Graham 58 

" mixed 90 

" oatmeal and Graham 58 



PAGE 

Gems, wheat meal 53 

Ginger drink, a cool 104 

Gout, food for 133 

Gooseberry water 104 

Graham crackers 60 

'• cupcake 83 

'• muffins 65, 9* 

" puffs 57 

Grape drink 106 

" seeds, eating of 134 

" jam 93 

" jelly 93 

Grapes, nutrition in 143 

" wholesomeness of. 143 

Gravy, buckwheat 55 

" for children 55,89 

" tomato 91 

Green pea soup 49 

Ground rice cake 84 

Growth, relation of food to 7 

Gruel, arrowroot 51 

'• groat 51 

- " milk, for children Ill 

" sago 51 

" tapioca 51 

Ham and eggs 122 

Hygienic breakfast 132 

Honey 131 

" for sore throat 144 

" French 92 

Ices 106 

Ice to keep 145 

Iron in food 17 

Jam, barberry 93 

" grape 93 

" and jelly 93 

Jellies 92 

Jelly and jam 98 

" barberry 93 

" grape 93 

" oatmeal 89 

Kitchen, the 43 

Lemonades 102 

Lemonade common 102 

'* English 102 

" from preserved lemon 

juice 109 

hot 102 

" milk 103 

" orange 102 

" pineapple 102 

" tea 102 

" whey 103 

Lemon sherbet 106 

Liquid food 99 

Maple eyrup, how to make 91 

Man compared to an engine 26 

Meals, distribution of. 34 

" mid-day, hearty 134 

" variety of 123 



156 



INDEX. 



PAGE 

Meat, extract of 138 

" palted ?)s. fresh 138 

" value of different parts of 138 

Mid-day hearty meals 13-1 

Milk 107 

" adulterated 137 

" cautions iu the use of 112 

" choice of 108 

" diet, a 107 

" gruel for children Ill 

" oatmeal Ill 

" preparing cow's for babes Ill 

" quantity 110 

" skimmed 112 

" sweetening 110 

" temperature of 110 

" various dilutions for various 

ages 109 

Minerals, amount of in the blood IS 

" not stored in the body 19 

Molded arrowroot 84 

" barley . >-i 

" cracked wheat 85 

" farinacea 84 

" sago 85 

" sago and fruit 85 

" tapioca 85 

Muffins ^. 94 

" bread *. 55 

" corn 94 

" Graham 55, 94 

Muscular power, source of 28 

Mush, cold, use for 89 

" oatmeal 90 

Notional people 138 

Nuts, vvholesomeness of 142 

Oatmeal and cocoanut cracknels 63 

" and milk diet 131 

" breakfast cakes 61 

•' cakes 62 

" " (Scotch way) 61 

" cracknels 63 

" drinks 140 

" jelly 89 

" milk Ill 

" mush 90 

puffs... 57 

" to make relish 132 

Omelet, baked 63 

" the queen's 63 

" sandwich 66 

Oranges before breakfast 143 

Order 44 

Over-eating 123 

Oysters 141 

" composition of 141 

" corn 68 

" in summer 142 

" raw 141 

Pan Dowdy, apple 91 

Peas, boiled 92 

" dried green 69 

" green 70 



PAOE 

Peas, green, wholesomeness of 148 

" sweet 72, 148 

Phosphoric acid and chlorine 17 

Phosphorus and sulphur 17 

Pies, general remarks 72 

Pie, apple 74 

" " cake 75 

" " float 74 

" puff 74 

" cocoanut 75 

" cranberry 76 

" crust, cream and potato 73 

•' " good 73 

" " Mrs. Cox's 73 

" " " Jones' 73 

" for dyspeptics 77 

" French 74 

" lemon 75 

" mock apple 74 

" pumpkin and squash 75 

" Quaker mince 90 

" raspl)erry 76 

" rice 76 

" squash 76 

" strawberry 76 

" sweet apple 76 

" sweet potato 76 

" tomato 88 

" turnover jam 75 

Plum water 104 

Pone, apple corn. 60 

Pork eating 136 

Porridge, arrowroot , 50 

boiled wheat 50 

" Indian farina 50 

" Indian meal 50 

" milk 51 

" Norwegian 58 

" sago 51 

" wheat meal 50 

Potassa and soda 17 

Potatoes 66 

baked 66 

balls 6T 

" for the sedentary 133 

Irish, baked 94 

" mashed 67 

" salad 71 

" soup 48 

" sweet 73 

" " dressing for 94 

" " wholesomeness of.. .. 148 

Practical dietetics 121 

Preface. 3 

Proteids, the 11 

Pudding, apple and bread 80 

•' apple and tapioca 80 

" baked, with fruit 82 

" barley 88 

" batter 82 

" bread 79 

" cherry 80 

" cottage 81 

" Debuonico 81 

" every-day 95 

" fancy dish 95 



INDEX. 



157 



PAGE 

Pudding, Graham bird's nest 81 

" " gem 80 

" hygienic plum 90 

" indiaii extra 81 

" nice cheap 81 

" poor man 8 80 

" rice 19 

" sago SO 

" " bird's nest 81 

" simple corn meal 82 

" steamed Graham 80 

•' tapioca custard 81 

Puffs, Graham 57 

" oatmeal . 57 

Raisins, to cook 88 

Raspberry drink 104 

Raw mat erial 43 

Reformers, dietetic 146 

Repair, relations of food to 7 

Rice and milk diet 131 

" boiled 90 

" cakes 94 

" molded 85 

Rolls, wheat meal 58 

Rusk 88 

Sago and fruit molded 85 

" molded 85 

Salad, potato 71 

Salt, use of 20 

Sandwich, cheese 65 

egg 65 

" fried egg 66 

" gem and cheese..., 96 

" omelet 60 

School dietaries 125 

Scrofula and fat 136 

Seasons, food for different 121 

Shellfish 141 

Silica 17 

Simplicity in eating 44 

Soda and potassa 17 

Soup 47 

" barley 48 

" barley and bread 48 

" bean 48 

" beef and tomato 49 

" brown 48 

" green pea 49 

" ochra 94 

" potato 48 

" split pea 47 

" tomato 49,89 

" vermicelli 50 

Spinach 72 

Spring drink 101 

Squash, steamed 67 

Starchy food for babes 145 



FAGO 

Statistics, general 35 

Stomachs, large 140 

Strawberry drink 101 

sherbet 106 

" shortcake 83 

Succotash 69 

" winter 69 

Sugar not objectionable 151 

Sulphur and phosphorus 17 

" " soda 17 

Summer beverages 106 

Sweet potatoes 72 

Syrup, maple, how to make 91 

Tamarind water 103 

Tapioca, molded 85 



Tea 



.113 



" analysis of. 113 

" and dyspepsia 115 

" and sick headache 114 

" drunkards 115 

" practical hints 114 

" rhubarb 105 

" to prepare 117 

Teeth, the 144 

Toast and cheese 65 

" *' water 105 

" cream 62 

" egg 63 

" onion 63 

" water, apple 101 

Tomato custard 88 

" pie 88 

soup 49,89 

Tomatoes, boiled 67 

" raw 67 

" scolloped 68 

" stewed 67 

Turnips, nutriment in 142 

Turnover jam pie 75 

Variation of diet, daily 122 

Vegetables, general remarks 66 

Vermicelli soup 50 

Waste, relations of food to 7 

Water, distilled 100 

•• filtered 101 

" purity of. 100 

Wheat, boiled 86 

" crushed 92 

Wheat-meal crisps 59 

Why children eat so much 7 

" do we eat 7 

" great thinkers eat heartily 7 

Wine for chiklren 137 

Work and appetite 148 

" diet ... 33 



A CATALOGUE OF BOOKS 



PUBLISHED AND TOU BALB BT 



WOOD & HOLBROOK, 

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Any one of tchich icill be sent by mail, post-paid, on receipt of the price. 



MORAL, INTELLECTUAL, AND PHYSICAL CULTURE , 

Or, The Philosophy of True Living, 

By Prof. F. Q. Wblch, Instructor of Gymnastics in Yale College. 

This work is the most Complete Guide to Gymnastics ever published. 
Parts in. and IV. comprise important thoughts on Moral and Intellectual Cul 
tnre. It is beautifully printed and bound, and contains nearly 500 pages. 
Price, }!2 ; postage extra, 24 cents. The following table of contents will giv« 
an idea of the work : 

Part I.— Thb Gymnasium.— 1. How to Baild a Gymnasium. 2. Ths 
Gymnasium 3. Exercises with Parallel Bars. 4. Exercises on Horizonta; 
Bar. 5. Exercises with Rings, Ladders, etc. 6. Exercises with Weights, Ropes, 
etc. 7. Forty Weeks' Exercises. 8. The Home Gymnasium. 9. Training. 
10. Indian Club Exercises. 

Part II.— The Dio Lewis System op Gymnastics.— 1. Gymnastics. 
3 The Dio Lewis System. 3. Shorthand. 4. Marches. 5. Percussion. 6. Mis- 
cellaneous Exercises. 7. Music. 8. Address to Teachers. 9. Hints and Sug- 
gestions to Teachers and Pupils. 

Part III.— The House wis Live in.- 1. Health. 2. The Body. 3. Physi 
cal Culture. 4. Bathinn;. 5. Air and Ventilation. 6. Food— Eati*sr and Drink 
ing. 7. Sleep. 8. Fashion. 9. Beauty. 10. Amusements and Ksercises. it 
Man. 12. Woman. 13. Husband and Wife. 14. Parents and Children. 15. 
Religion. 16. Education. 17. Manners. 18. Character. 19. The Physician and 
Medicine. 20. Voice Culture. 21. Hints and Rules. 

Part IV.— Mental and Moral Culture.— 1. General Readings. 2. Pro 
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THE HEALTH HABITS OF YOUNG MEN. 

By M. L. HOLBROOK, M.D., Editor of The Herald of Health. With an Intro- 
ductory Letter by Dr. DIO LEWIS. Pp. 16. 

This valuable little tract will be furnished by the hundred, post-paid, to 
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Which is crammed with suggestive facts and good advice." 

Address, WOOD & HOLBROOK, 15 Laight Street, New- York. 

U 



SEXUAL PHYSIOLOGY. 

A SCIENTIFIC AND POPULAR EXPOSITION 

or THE 

FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEMS IN SOCIOLOGY 

By R. T. TRALL, M.D 

The great interest now being felt in all subjects relating to Haman Devel 
opment, will make the book op rNTEREST to evert one. Besides the infor- 
mation obtained by its perusal, the practical bearing of the various subjects 
created in improving and giving a Ugher direction and value to human lifa 

CAN NOT BE OVER-ESTIMATED. 

This work contains the latest and most important discoveries in the An 
atomy and Physiology of the Sexes ; ELxplains the Origin of Human Life ; How 
and when Menstruation, Impregnation, and Conception occur ; giving the lawi 
by wliich the number and sex of offspring are controlled, and valuable infor- 
mation in regard to the begetting and rearing of beautiful and healthy children. 
It if high-toned, and should be read by every family. With eighty fine en- 
gimvtQgB. Agents wanted. 



SYNOPSIS OF TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

Chapter I.— The Male Organs of Generation. 

Chapter 11. — The Female Organs of Ocneration. 

Chapter in.— The Origin of Life. '/ 

Chapter IV.— Sexual Generation. 

Chapter V.— The Physiology of Menstruation. 

Chapter VI.— Impregnation. 

Chapter VII.— Pregnancy. 

Chapter Vin.— Embryology. 

Chapter IX.— Parturition. 

Chapter X.— Lactation. 

Chapter XI.— The Law of Sex. 

Chapter Xn.— Regulation of the Number of Offspring 

Chapter Xm.— The Theory of Population. 

Chapter XIV.— The Law of Sexual Intercourse. 

Chapter XV.— Hereditary Transmission. 

Chapter XVI.— Philosophy of Marriage. 

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Itantly increasing. No such complete and va'<iable work has ever befure beta 
jHned from the press. Price, by mall, $3. 



A WINTER IN FLORIDA; 

Or, Obseiraiioiis on Die Soil, Climaie, and Productions ol onr Semi-Troplca] Stale 

With Sketches of the Principal Towns and Cities in Eastern Florida, 

to which is added a brief Historical Summary, together with 

Hints to the Tourist, Invalid, and Sportsman. 

By ledyard bill. 

Ulnstrattd with Maps and beautiful Wood-cuts. 

In speaking of this book. The New-Tork Tribune says : " Mr. Bill has for 
Blshod in this neat little volume a CTeat amount and variety of the sort of io- 
formalion which people visiting Fioiida for health or amusement, or with a 
view to permanent settlement, are most likely to reijuire. He has ])aid due 
attention to the soil, climate, productions, and natural advantages of the State; 
he gives clear and minute directions about routes, and sketches the aspects 
of social life." 

The thousands who would know all about Florida before going there will 
find this book jnst the thing, whether they are Invalidfl. Tourists, Sportsmen, 
or those seeking a Home away from cold Winters in a delightful clime. The 
following condensed table of contents gives a general view of the work : 

What to Expect and IIow to Go ; Early History of Florida ; M iscellaueous Topics , 
Up the St. Johns to Jacksonville ; Home of Harriet Beecher Stowe; The 
Celebrated Spring at Green Cove ; Central Florida and the Upi)cr St. Joans; 
AlligJitor Shooting; The Old City of St. Aii^ustine ; Climate and its Eflect 
on Invalids; Character and Kind of Soil ; The Orange, Lemon, and Lime; 
The Social Condition of the People ; Sketches of Jacksonville. Green Cove, 
Picolata, Enterprise; Abundance of Fish and Wild Game; The Mocking 
Bird's Home ; Incidents of Travel ; Hints to those Going to Florida. 

The work contains about 250 pages 12mo, beautifully illustrated with 
CAP \ 'd full-page cuts, and retails at $1.25. Copies sent to any address by mail 
on receipt of the price. 

THE TREE OF LIFE; 

Or, Human Degeneracy, its Nature and Remedy. 

By Isaac Jennings, M.D. 

Thb author of this book was for thirty years an Allopathic physician, bnt 
becoming convinced that medicines did more harm than good, he sub6titut«d 
placebos of bread pills and colored water in his practice, and the record of hit 
eases show that the latter treatment was eminently succesful in removing dia- 
eaeea. It contains the following table of contents : 

Man's Spiritual Degeneracy; Physical Depravity; Physiological and Psycho- 
logical Reform ; Remedy for Man's Spiritual Degeneracy ; Man's Physical 
Degeneracy ; Constitution of Human Physical Life ; Vital Economy, or Or- 
ganic Laws of Life ; Source and Mode of Transmission of the Principle of 
Human Physical Life; Predisposition to Disease; Hereditjiry Diseases; 
Mode of Renovation of Impaired and Feeble Vital Machinery ; Analysis of 
a Few of the Most Prominent Symptoms of Disease; Law of Contagion 
and General Causation ; Medical Delusion ; Remedy for Man's Physical 
Degeneracy; General Directions Resumed; Specific Directions — Croup- 
Dysentery— Cholera; Final and Effectual Remedy for Man's Physical Du 
generacy. 

Price, by mail, $1.00. 

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THE PHILOSOPHY OF HUMAN BEAUTY; 

Or, Hints Toward Physical Perfection. 

Showing how to Acquire and Retain Bodily Symmetry, Health, and Vigor, So. 
cure Long Life, and Avoid the Infirmities and Deformitiea of Age. 

Bt D. H. JAQUES. 



Motto.— TTie idea of Beauty of Person is synonynums with that of HmU'Ji 
and a Perfect Organization. 



LIST OF CHAPTERS. 



I. Structure of the Human Body. 
II. The Perfect Man and Woman, 
in. The Temperaments. 
rV. Embryology. 
V. Childhood. 

VI. Moral and Emotional Influences. 
Vn. Social Conditions and Occupa- 
tions. 

This book contains nearly one hundred beautiful illustrations, and the 
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Vm. Effects of Climate and Society. 
IX. Direct Physical Culture. 
X. Practical Hygiene. 
XI. Womanhood. 
Xn. Secret of Longevity. 
Xin. Arts of Beauty. 
XIV. External Indications of Figure. 



NEW HYGIENIC COOK BOOK. 

Bt Mrs. M. M. JONES, M.D. 

This work contains Recipes for making U'^ leavened Bread, Biscuits of 
Wheat, Com, Oat, and Rye Meal, Graham Crackers, Wheaten Mush, Hominy, 
Samp, Indian Meal Mush, Oatmeal Mush, Farina Mush, Rice Mush, Blanc 
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with the most wholesome and delicious crust, and directions so minute that 
those who have no acquaintance with Hygienic Cookery will find it easy to 
carry out the details. Recipes for more than forty kinds of Puddings, an Essay 
on Fniits and their use as food, with ample directions for canning, drying, and 
cooking, numerous hints on cooking Vegetables, the preparation of dishes from 
whole grains and seeds, recipes for Gruels of Wheat-Meal, Oatmeal, Farina, 
Tapioca, Sago, Arrowroot, Rice, Qrf>en and Split Peas, Barley Vegetable Broth, 
Uarley Broth, etc., etc. The Recipes for washing and removing stains are those 
which experience has proved to be best, and are worth many times the erst 
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Parturition Without Pain; 

OR, 

A Code of Directions for Avoiding most of tho 
Pains and Dangers of Child- Bearing. 

EDITED BY M. L. HOLBROOK, M.D., 

SditoT of The Herald of HeaM, 



"WITH A.TSr KSSA.'X' onsT 

"The Car-e of Chiloheiv,'' 

By Mrs. Clemence S. Lozier, M.D., 
Dean of the J\''e)i>-'^'o7-k Medical College for yVomen, 

C03SrTEia"TS. 

1. Healthfulness of Child-Bearing. 

2. Dangers of Preventions. 

3. Medical Opinions as to escaping Pain. 
k. Preparation for Maternity. 

5. Exercise during Pregnancy, 

6. The Sitz Baih and Batliing generally. 

7. What Food to Eat and what to Avoid. 

8. The Mind during Pregnancy. 

9. The Ailments of Pregnancy and their Remedies. 
10. Female Physicians, Anaesthetics. 

To which are added: 

1 The Husband's Duty to his Wife. 2. Best Age for Rearing Chiklrea. 
3 Shall Sickly People become Parents ? 4. Small Families. 5. Importance of 
Physiological Adaptation of Husband and Wife. 6. Celibacy. 7. Effects of 
Tobacco on Offspring. 8. Latest Discoveries as to the Determining the Se.x: 
of Offspring. 9. Father's vs. Mother's Influence on the Child. 10. Shall 
Pregnant Women Work ? 11. Effects of Intellectual Activity on Number 
of Offspring. 12. Size of Pelvis, and its Relation to Healthful Parturition, 
etc., etc. 

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Climates for Invalids, Etc, 

BY LEDY^RD BILL, 

Author o/"' A Winter in Florida.^'' 



This work has been prepared with unusual care, and is designed for nearly 
every class of invalids requiring a change of climate, and especially for those 
afflicted with weak lungs. 

The volume treats of the climates of the following places, well known for 
their high sanitary repute, namely : 

Minnesota, California, Florida, Nassau, and Fayal. 

The chief part of the work is devoted, however, to the State of Minnesota, 
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The Christian Union, edited by Henry Ward Beecher, speaks enthusi- 
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climates, in the author's opinion, for those who are stricken with consump- 
tion or allied maladies. In justifying this view, the author enters upon climatic 
considerations with enthusiasm and knowledge. Indeed, we have seldom read 
of a book of this kind, so delightful in its general methods, so full of newly- 
collated facts, and so scientifically entertaining. The author's advice to in- 
valids as to physical means of recovery is excellent, and altogether the volume 
is one of genuine merit." It is advertised in another column, and may be had 
at the bookstores, or sent by mail on receipt of price, 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

Characteristics of Minnesota. 

IHt-astiring on the Tipper Mississippi. 

The City of St. I^aul, and other Towng. 

Tfie Climate and its Character. 

Climate continued. 

Consumption. 

Causes of Consutnption. 

Hints to Invalids and others. 

Where to Go and what to Expect. 

Other Climates, California, Florida, Nassau, and Fayal. 



12mo, PAGES 207. ILLUSTRATED. PRICE, $1.25 



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partment of Phyiiical Culture, it enjoys the aid of numerous sound thinkers 
and able writer.*." 

The Christian ^Vorld says: "The Hekald op Health is unquestionably 
one of the best magazines of the day. It is devoted to the better education of 
morals and health." 

The Standard says : " The Herald op Health is always a great pet in 
our family, and is looked after with deep interest." 

The New-Ym-k Evenimj Post says: " We can always commend this journal 
without qualification." 

A health magazine should be found in every household as ranch as a farm 
or politicid paper. 

WOOD & HOLBROOK, 

15 LaigM Street, Netv-Yorh, 



1, 



